Moonspear bros b4 hos

Things had been complicated, but a lot less so since Althaia and Harley'd been chased off. Charon felt that he had everything under control. His story was completely plausible and no one would ever find out what he had done. It had made him realise how sensitive he was to hormones; he hadn't even intended to do anything, he'd just wanted to get Harley out of there. But he was loathe to admit that he didn't have his own body under control and luckily he would not have to — nobody knew, and anyway, as his thrall Althaia had been rightfully his, anyway.

Shaking such thoughts from his mind Charon set out to find @Floki that day, because he had had a hard time dealing with what had happened to Amekaze. He didn't want to push her away and while things were a bit better than they'd been days ago, they would likely not be really better until Amekaze gave birth to the pups. And then they'd be busy all day tending to their children. Charon figured that would mend their relation in many ways, but still he wanted to talk to Flóki. He wasn't sure how he'd even start, though... How do you say "your mate ended up crazy and running away, and I want to prevent mine from doing that, so can you tell me where it went wrong?". Of course, Ame was a lot stronger than Dhole, but still...

He set on a trail around morning, his nose searching out his brother in hopes he would find him so that they could talk... If not only to process both of their own sides in these stories of their respective (ex)mates.

The majority of Floki's time recently had been spent outside of Moonspear -- though he never ventured too far, he felt the relentless need to search for Lazarus. The furthest he had traveled was Greatwater Lake, and after scouring the other territories surrounding the mountain, he was starting to feel disheartened. It seemed as though the bastard had slipped between their fingers; he had vanished without a trace.

But because he was so absent from the slopes, he was as of yet unaware of what had transpired between Filth (whose real name he still couldn't remember), Harley, and Charon. On this particular morning, despite the yearning to rove, he stayed put. He would find Charon and see if his brother had had any luck in his pursuit.

Had the brothers not been looking for each other simultaneously, they might have crossed paths without realizing it. Instead, it was like a circle -- Charon was following Floki's trail, and Floki was following Charon's trail. It was the younger sibling that caught sight of the older first, the flash of white a telltale sign against the greenery of the mountainside. "Charon!" Floki called, accelerating as best he could to catch up.

It seemed to take forever before he caught sight of Flóki; Charon didn’t realise that his brother was looking for him, too. And when he did find his brother, it was oddly not at the end of the trail he was following, but right behind him. It must’ve been an old trail he had caught, Charon thought as he turned his head towards his brother. Yet the result was the same, whatever the case; he’d eventually found Flóki.

He turned round and moved towards Flóki, bumping nose to shoulder in affectionate gesture of greeting. After all that’d happened and how much time he had spent tending to pack things, it felt like a long time since he and Flóki’d been out looking for Lazarus together last.

”Hey Flóks,” he said with a fond smile. ”Hope you’re doing better than me of late. Any luck?”

He grinned as Charon turned and greeted him nonverbally. Of course, he wasted no time in pressing his own nose into the soft white fur of Charon's shoulder before stepping back a conversational distance. His smile faded, however, when the Alpha's first question was about Lazarus -- and the comment that prefaced it indicated that Charon hadn't come across any sign of Amekaze's attacker, either.

Floki shook his head, his lips pursing into a frown. "No, I haven't seen or smelled him anywhere. I went as far north as Greatwater Lake and as far south as Lake Rodney, but nothing." Little did he know that had he explored Redhawk Caldera's neighboring lake further, he would have found evidence of Lazarus' presence -- but he had kept his distance from his former flame's pack.

"I don't know how the hell he got away. It's like he vanished," he said, his words darkened by a rumble from deep within his chest.

It wasn’t very good to hear from Flóki that he hadn’t caught wind of Lazarus anywhere. Charon frowned as his brother spoke, disappointed that it couldn’t have been different. Yet he had a small point of light to share; ”Me and Dash found a scent trace of him at bramblepoint. Seemed to be headed towards the big lake by the Caldera, but it’s hard to tell.” And once there, they had found nothing, of course. How ultimately frustrating.

”That reminds me, I ran into Dhole’s dad the other day while out searching. He was such a dick when I tried to inform him about Lazarus.” Charon frowned as he thought back to the day. He’d been so riled up and seeing Dhole’s dad again had certainly struck a chord. He just hoped that Caldera wolves weren’t protecting Lazarus.

Floki's ears lifted at the news that there was a possibility Lazarus had ended up at Lake Rodney. "Oh! We should go back there and look together," he said, his mind already racing. He hadn't wanted to get too close to Redhawk Caldera, and the lake was large so he was simultaneously disappointed and pleased that Charon had a lead. He wished he had found Lazarus during his first sweep of the area, but he was glad they had something to go on.

Speaking of the caldera, Charon next mentioned that he had recently seen Peregrine. Floki's heart gave a squeeze at the sound of Wildfire's nickname, but his expression darkened considerably. "What did he say?" he asked, frowning. What reason would Wildfire's father have to be rude to Charon?

"Yeah, we should," he confirmed, figuring it couldn't hurt to have another look. Before he might've said it was a stupid idea and that it would bring them nothing, but now... It was the best they had. Soon the subject traversed onto Dhole's dad, and truthfully, Charon wasn't sure he wanted to stick on that subject long. "I dunno, he was just being a dick when I told him to inform us if he ran into Lazarus." He couldn't help but wonder if the Caldera wolves had anything to do with the whole mess of how Lazarus'd got away. They were between Bramblepoint and Lake Rodney, after all.

But there was another reason he wanted to talk to Flóki. "Look, uh... I don't really know what to do, y'know, with everything. I don't want to drive Ame away like Dhole." It felt like he was cutting off his point halfway, since he hadn't really said all that was bothering him, but he didn't really want to talk about it, anyway. He looked at Flóki, hoping his brother just sorta would get it and advice him on what to do now in regards to Ame.

Charon's response in relation to Peregrine was clipped and vague, but it still made Floki stew. There was something about that family -- they were unpredictable, that was for sure. He shook his head, forcing himself to let it go as Charon forged on with a different topic.

But he mentioned Wildfire's nickname again and Floki's ears wilted, splaying out to the side as he processed what, exactly, Charon was saying. He didn't know the details of the attack on Amekaze, just that it had happened -- and when he had arrived on the scene, he had felt a sickening sense of déjà vu. Charon's statement only confirmed his worst fears; that Lazarus was like Goober, and Amekaze had suffered the same fate as Wildfire.

He sucked in a sharp breath, looking away from Charon for a long moment. Obviously he was no expert in this area -- what he had done was make Wildfire feel like she had to run away from Moonspear. He chewed on the inside of his lip, her gold-eyed face swimming in his mind's eye and bringing on a wave of heartache he hadn't felt in a long time. "Just be there for her," he finally murmured, turning his snout towards Charon but not meeting his gaze. "I tried to do that for Wifi, but I suggested that we just be friends -- I dunno, I didn't want to hurt her, after Goober already had. But I didn't know what to do." He blinked, finally peeking up at Charon's face. "Just make sure she knows that you love her and support her. Don't leave her."

Charon was glad that he didn't need to explain any more to his brother. He did try to be there for Ame, but it was so hard, for a large variety of reasons. He was pushing her away because he was afraid she'd push him away, and for a while he had felt disgusted knowing what Lazarus had done to her. She'd allowed him to get close, too close; this should never have happened at all. She shouldn't have let it happen.

Yet from this point on they wouldn't do good dwelling in the past and he just wanted to get over this. Ears folded as he listened to what Flóki said. He recognised some of it, though circumstances were slightly different here. "Yeah, I'm trying all that..." he admitted half-heartedly. "I guess I just hope that things will get better in time, y'know? I mean, Ame's — she's different from Dhole, stronger. I just hope we won't end up the same." He didn't want to, and their pups needed them to be together, too. The thought of his pups still brought a pang of doubt to his mind, but he pushed it away quickly. He smiled thinly as he admitted, though he guessed Flóki had already seen it from Ame: "We need it to work, especially with the pups on the way."

Floki nodded encouragingly as Charon processed his advice, eventually seeming to come to the conclusion that it would take time to overcome what had happened. He agreed with that -- he wished that he had been given more time with Wildfire, but she hadn't allowed him the chance. Charon was right when he said that Amekaze was stronger than Wildfire. Despite the circumstances, Amekaze would never run away from her pack, her family or her future.

"I just hope we won't end up the same," Charon lamented, and Floki's nodding turned to a firm side-to-side shake of his head. "You won't," he said, and he believed it.

He then directed a small, curious smile in Charon's direction. "When is she due?" he asked; last time they had discussed it, Charon had been fairly certain that she was pregnant, but it hadn't been official just yet. Floki would be an uncle. The thought warmed him from the inside, much as he had felt when he had learned about Gyda -- but this was different. These puppies would not be raised on the other side of the wilds, only knowing their uncle by name; he would be a part of their lives, and would hopefully help raise them, as long as Amekaze and Charon approved.

Charon smiled softly at Flóki when he said, full of confidence, that it wouldn't happen to him and Ame the same way that it had happened to Flóki and Dhole. Dhole had been weak, Charon reminded himself, and she had run away like a coward. She'd even run away from him when he had confronted her with things, when he had wanted to make her stay.

Luckily Flóki asked about the pups, and Charon was snapped from the thought of Dhole's departure. "I dunno, uh, how long do these things usually take? A couple months?" He didn't remember from when Flóki and his siblings were born how long it had taken then. "She's getting pretty fat, so I don't think it should be that much longer. I've already prepared a den at the foot of the mountain at the edge of the forest." Ame had seemed content with that den, so that was a step in the right direction.

Floki shrugged his shoulders helplessly as Charon redirected the query. He had even less knowledge of pregnancy and labor than his brother did. Somehow, though, he assumed that nature would take its course and Amekaze's body would know what to do. When the time was right, she would bring the heirs of Moonspear into the world -- the first puppies to be born on the mountain; Floki's nieces and nephews.

He snorted out a laugh at Charon's blunt comment on Ame's weight gain, but took note of the location of the whelping den. He would be sure to steer clear out of respect for the Alpha female, until after the babies were born and he was welcomed to meet them. "Is there anything I can do for her?" Floki asked. He didn't know if Amekaze wanted or needed anything, or if it would be appropriate for him to assist her -- but he figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Then, a moment later, he asked a second, more personal question: "How does it feel? To almost be a dad?"

At Flóki's question, Charon hummed thoughtfully before he said: "I dunno, nothing specifically that I can think of, other than keep up patrols and make sure there's enough food for her now that she can't do much herself anymore." Amekaze was a very productive wolf around the pack and she wouldn't be able to be as such the coming months. Even after the pups were born she'd probably be den-ridden for a while, he wagered.

A wry smile appeared on his face at the next question. He wasn't sure. He was afraid. Not so much for complications, because somehow he did not think that anything would go wrong (he had little experience and was a very "that happened to some other person, but it won't happen to me" type of wolf). No, he was afraid that he wouldn't love his children, that he would forever be reminded of Lazarus when he saw their faces. He tried to smile, tried to force looking happy at the prospect, but somehow he just couldn't.

"I dunno, the same as before, I guess," he lied. "But maybe it'll be different when they're actually here." He hoped so, in a positive way.

Whatever thoughts crossed Charon's mind, they remained unknown to Floki. Although his brother's smile did appear to be a bit forced, he chalked it up to nerves -- after all, the young Alpha's life was about to change forever. But never once did he consider that Charon would doubt his abilities as a father or that he worried about Lazarus' impact. As far as he was concerned, Charon represented #lifegoals.

"You'll be a great dad," Floki replied instantly, speaking the truth that he felt. He remembered fondly his own childhood, spent with Charon at his side -- and while Charon had been a big brother, not a father figure, he still looked up to him the way he had when he was a a tiny pup. "And I can't wait to be an uncle," he admitted with a grin.

Charon smiled at his brother, glad to know he'd always have Flóki's support. He wished that Flóki and Dhole were still together, that they'd be raising pups soon too. He couldn't think of anyone he'd give permission to breed other than his own brother right now; his pups wouldn't be competitors for resources to his own, but friends and family to them. "You'll be a great uncle," Charon said with a grin, mirroring Flóki's words somewhat in his own context.

Then he said: "C'mon, let's go for a patrol." And he set off towards the borders, assuming that Flóki would follow.

fade? :D