Shimmering Sands "it's calm before the storm, winslow."

with a general 'i guess!' cast to his features, the stag nevertheless took up his position alongside knaven. "it can't be that bad," he decided to relent, thinking of how many years it had been since his mother had even been in the teekon. "and if it is, well, we're good at finding anything we want."
on that note lionel was content and confident. soon the brief malaise dropped from him and at length he ran ahead to find an old ivoried bone, whirling back to clack it loudly in his teeth and invite knaven for a scuffle. just one wouldn't derail them, lionel thought.

Knaven would have liked to agree with his sibling’s casual statement about finding what they desired. He knew that the Cairns had a way of taking what they wanted with as much ferocity as the sea, but this was only one half of who they were. The curiosity that fluttered inside of him spoke of a need to venture toward the forest that had once been their mother’s home. Even if the woodland was still coated in ash and burned beyond reason, the druid felt that it was his duty to see it and walk upon it.
 
“Finding good land is gonna be important ya know,” he decided to speak up about his thoughts on the statement. If a pack already resided in a territory that they liked, was it possible for the siblings to band together enough members to take the land by force? The idea seemed farfetched, but Knaven could not help but to toy with it in his mind for several long minutes.

important for whomst? lionel wanted to ask, but only nodded in a manful, stoic silence. to the stag, there was little reason to seek out land just because it had once been inhabited. he could not embrace the magicks his mother had. did knaven believe in them? he kept the wondering to himself.
"what's your vision for the future?" the boy chuffed instead, coming along to arrange his pace with that of the wolverine. even if he didn't agree, he could at very least listen.

That wasn’t the easiest question to answer, the rogue realized as he lowered his head toward the earth and sniffed at the ground. There were many things that he felt like he wanted for the future, but there was no telling if those things would happen. Knaven had tried his best not to put stock in many things, taking a strange almost hippie lifestyle that allowed him to let the flow carry him where it pleased. This conflicted strongly with what he felt he was entitled to, but that was large fish to fry.
 
“Kinda wanna set the rules for myself. Don’t feel much like pledging my name to someone else’s righteous cause, ya know?”
 
Knaven glanced toward his brother with an easy smirk. The weight of that idea was much heavier than he let on, but he wanted to keep it that way. Lionel would surely have his own opinions on the matter, and the druid was certain that he would share them openly once he’d figured out what he wanted for himself.

"yeah man," lionel mumbled, not truly understanding what a righteous cause might be. but he trusted knaven to know what it was. the wolverine held the bulk of the boy's respect for that alone. the willingness to be wily, careful, and arrogant if need be. 
but never wrong. knaven had never been wrong. he'd always known his shit. 
lionel grinned at his brother, slipping into a playbow while he pranced in a tight semi-circle. "only we know what we're about anyway," the stag declared, stopping to skygaze for a long and poignant moment.

Lionel appeared to understand what Knaven had said, but the rogue could never have been certain. The blue-eyed boy had a way of doing that; fitting in where he did not necessarily belong. Though he would never admit it, the wolverine had always envied his brother of that skill. In many ways, he did not feel as though he had to worry about Lionel. The stag would surely find a place for himself, no matter where he roamed. 

"How'd you feel about where we land? You wanna be close to the ocean? Wanna keep sniffing around to find somethin' better?"

The warmth of his gaze landed on the stag with a pointed stare.

"it feels like you have a better idea of what you want than me, knaven," lionel chuckled, though his shot deflated under the direct gaze of his brother. "ah, fine. all right. i want to stay by the sea, yeah," the stag huffed, though there was no true irritation in him.
"but i don't want to be right on the sea, you know? like i want to know we can explore other things." the expanse had been with them all along; that would not end. but lionel did not wish to live his entire span of days without knowing what else worked in the world. "and i'll be honest, i don't see the point of that forest. but if you think we can make something there, you know i'm in. hundred percent." a smile quirking the edge of his mouth.