He'd been here too long already. Yes, this land was nicer than home and under any other circumstances he might have been glad to have arrived in a place that wasn't a barren wasteland that could barely support it's residents. The prey here was plentiful, the residents were probably all fat and happy with room to roam, grass to cushion their paws and just the most picture perfect lifestyle he could imagine. It was almost kind of sickening to think that just to the east was his homeland where everyone had fought for generations over scraps, meanwhile this bountiful land had existed unknown to them. Or, had it been unknown? Mars had to have known there was somewhere for him to go in his exile... Unless he'd just assumed that Ig would die looking for land that didn't exist.

Scoffing, Ignatius shook the thoughts from his head as he wove his way through the mangrove trees. Whether or not his father wished him dead didn't much matter now - Mars wasn't going to be coming here anytime soon anyway. As the sun set over the horizon the darkness encroached, yet at the same time it seemed like a faint light remained. Emanating from this strange, soggy land. Strange, but not the strangest he'd seen. He only wandered a little further before he managed to find what must be the only ground for miles that was high enough to not be muddy and damp.

Traveling sure did take it out of a wolf. He yawned loudly, mismatched eyes growing heavier with every passing moment. Ig didn't know how long he'd been here alone at this point, but it felt like ages. It would just be another night of solitude, no big deal, he could set out and maybe see if anyone actually did live here in the morning. With that thought, he'd lay down and settle in for some long awaited sleep.

WARNING: Language
Sephira was used to being frustrated, cranky, grumpy, peeved, perturbed, and often even downright pissed. She was used to feeling those things to varying extents. But usually, she either stalked off sulking or gave someone a piece of her mind, and then she felt better! This was very different. Despite the desperation of her travels, the exhaustion she was feeling, the fear and the worry, above it all she was still simmering with rage.

Realizing her brother Ignatius had been exiled had taken her less than two days, and the decision to follow in his footsteps had happened immediately after. She hadn't even paused to tell the rest of her family, because in her mind they had betrayed Iggy by not protecting him. Or maybe it was just her, but either way she was happy to project all of that bad mojo onto the miles behind her. So despite her withered frame, her ragged breathing, and her bloody paws, the brilliantly colored woman trudged on.

She had caught the faintest hint of Ig's trail earlier that afternoon, and she had been pushing herself to catch up ever since. Her idiot brother had found his way into a bloody mangrove forest of all places. If he had been trying to lose his scent and evade detection, all he'd really done was inconvenience her. Somehow her ire didn't manifest though, as she at last found where her older brother had denned up for the night. She huffed, a mix of relief and irritation, and immediately crouched down to worm her way under his forelimbs and heave him sideways.

"I cannot believe this bullshit, Iggy- Oof! Scooch over, would you? Hog." She flipped over, pressing her paws into the earthen walls of the makeshift den and pushed, trying to shift the great lug so there was comfortable room for her too. "This place is cool though, right? But of course you'd run into a fucking swamp. Do you have any idea how hard that made it to find you? Anyways, this is place is really nice. I didn't know so many plants could grow in one place!" She continued to ramble in a stream of consciousness, assuming that her brother had either woken up or would soon. She didn't really care, honestly. She had worried about him, and there was a lot she needed to catch him up on about her journey. No time like the present!

He might have said that the last thing he expected was to be waking up to his sister suddenly appearing and babbling on about something, but really he hadn't been expecting much of anything and he certainly didn't have a last thing because he was asleep! Waking with a start, Ig blinked several times, eyes adjusting to the dim light his pelt provided and confirming more through the incessant rambling than sight that it really was Sephira who had burst into the cramped space and set right to rambling about her day as if it were any other night in the kingdom. The frequency with which this happened pre-exile was a little frightening, but it was the fact that she was just suddenly here that still had him feeling a little dazed and confused.

Still groggy and not too sure he was ready to be speaking much less engaging in full-blown conversation, Ig mumbled, "Stop calling me that, Seph. When the hell did you get here?" She always called him that and he hated it, but he was also pretty sure that she could wipe the floor with him if he really wanted to fight about it, so Sephira had won the right to be the only soul allowed to use his least favorite nickname. Didn't mean he wouldn't complain about it constantly though. Scooting to the side, he made room for his pushy sibling to invade his space - he'd given up the battle on personal space with Sephira basically back when they first started walking - and heaved a heavy sigh. 'Nice to see you too, psycho' he thought with a sardonic smile as her fiery features finally came into focus in the dark den. Apparently he wasn't going to get a spare moment to contemplate the fact that she had just followed him here without a backward glance.

Nipping at her ear, he grumbled, "It's weird to think this was here all along..." Weirder that she just came in like it was another Tuesday night but, hey, in the end he did sort of appreciate this one small feeling of familiarity. Of course his crazy sister was here. Ig should have guessed she'd march on over, probably should have waited for her to arrive but he was pretty busy being livid about the reason for his arrival.

Ig shifted, and Sephira wondered if it meant he was finally conscious. It made no difference to her, except that he interrupted her. "Stop calling me that, Seph." Rude. Well, not that he had had obviously woken up on the wrong side of the den, but just that he hadn't let her finish. She didn't even know where she was going with it, and now she'd probably forget forever! He was obviously groggy, so she'd humor him. "Uhm, just now, duh? You are not an easy guy to find. You'd think glowing, scarlet, and massive would draw more attention around here, but noooo. Have you seen how boring and puny some of the wolves are here? I swear, you'd hardly know they were there unless- Ouch!"

Her brother nipped her ear, surprising her enough to get a word in edgewise. "It's weird to think this was here all along..." Seph huffed. She hadn't really thought that far into it. It was definitely weird, but the idea that they might have been able to come here before they were forced made her snout crinkle. That she had been wasting years of her life being unnecessarily miserable when she had unknown options rankled her. "Yeah, and now it's our secret. Well... us and I'm sure loads of other wolves too, but I guess they've kept it pretty well so far. I mean, who wouldn't want to live here? Those assholes back home don't deserve to know about this place. You're not going back, are you?"

She had just arrived. If Ig made her turn around and leave this veritable Eden behind she would tie his tail around a tree until saw sense again. This place was awesome so far. She'd seen a herd of deer on her first day that numbered perhaps thirty strong. She had never seen anything like it before. Part of her did want some of their other siblings to find them, but the idea of going back and risking their lives a second time did not appeal to her at all.

Sleep was still trying to pull him back into it's embrace and much as he'd like to return to it his sister was not one to let sleeping wolves lie. If this only went on for another hour he'd be lucky. A small yawn parted his jaws while she snarked at him, lamenting the fact that it had apparently taken some work on her part to find him. He did find the information about the residents here rather interesting though. So, they weren't like his kin then? He wondered to what degree the plainness of their coats might be, but figured in his groggy daze that he'd find out later. There was plenty of time to explore and meet the locals. He had the rest of his damn life to be exiled in this place. Joy.

Shaking his head, Ig muttered, "They really don't. Well, most of them..." He might have a decent friend or two among the lot back home, though it didn't really do him much good when he needed someone on his side. That bastard sure chose the opportune time to screw him over - waiting until half of those who might have stood up for Ig weren't anywhere nearby and those that were around happened to be the less loyal sort. It still pissed him off. So much so that - whether related or by coincidence - his glowing pelt flared brighter for a moment. Smacking the back of his head against the ground a few times, eyes firmly shut, he considered her question before mumbling, "No, I'm not. Not yet anyway, there'd be no point and I'd either die or get my ass kicked."

"You wanna stay here anyway, right?" That was why she asked, right? Sephi wouldn't ask if she didn't have an opinion one way or the other. Unfortunately for Ig she always had her mind made up by the time a word ever left her mouth, or at least it sure seemed that way.

Seph was pleased to find her brother agreeing with her, more or less. It was the wisest course of action of course, because she was right, as usual. And sure, maybe it sounded like he had a wolf or two in mind who he wouldn't mind showing up here. Sephi could maybe name one or two herself, but at this point she would trust any as far as she could toss them. And that was to say, she was perfectly willing to see any of them face to face, to assess them personally before seeing how far she could chuck them. It seemed fun.

But, keeping on task. Ig moped, in the way that only Iggy could, lamenting that he would either get killed or get his ass whooped if he ever dared to return. They had made that perfectly clear. "Oh, don't be silly, Iggy. Probably both, though definitely not in that order," she cheerfully chirped, her wide grin dimly lit by her brother's otherworldly glow, fangs glinting in the low light. Well, it's true, she thought to herself quickly. "And I DO want to stay here," she said without a moment of hesitation. "But I want to stick with you more, obviously. I mean, that's why I'm here, isn't it? You interrupted me before, but I have every intention to tell you about the utter hell I went through to get here! It was awful. You know, until I got to the part where I started tripping over the plumpest prey I've ever seen in all my days."

She rolled to shove him again, playfully this time but meaningfully too. She figured he was probably homesick, which was fair. Hells, there were things Seph would miss too, once she gave herself enough time to stop being angry. (It hadn't come yet, but she would most likely get there... one day.) But for now she had found him, and that was what mattered for the immediate future. She drew in a breath, preparing to launch back into the longwinded Homeric odyssey she had undertaken to track down her beleaguered and ultimately ungrateful sibling through the most astonishing tragedy of his life. Her mind churned as the details began to grow and meld to be more fitting for the saga she had definitely endured. Yup. Totally. 100%.

Her response had him struggling to lift his brow at the same time as a yawn was parting his jaws. Maybe someday his body would grow accustomed to the late night chats. Probably not but he could dream. Oh wait, he couldn't, this woman always woke him up before he could. "Whatever did I do without you, miss ray of sunshine?" he muttered with a shake of his head. "You're right though... If I ever go back there has to be more than two of us or we're probably both dead meat just by association." Ig could only imagine the palpable waves of anger that must have radiated from Mars when he realized Sephi up and left to chase after Ig.

Anger and frustration still dominated his emotions well after the initial journey here, but Sephira's words hit him hard and a genuine smile found it's way to his lips as he watched her continue to prattle on about her trying, harrowing venture to follow him into unknown lands. Shifting so he could rest his head against Sephi's chest, Ig smirked and decided to encourage her against his own better judgement. "Be my guest, tell me all about the hardships you endured on this brave journey, dear sister." Really he did want to hear about it anyway, though separating the truth from the embellishment might be a bit of a trial.

Sephira was very aware that her brother was being a bit sassy with her. Well, she could deal with sass! She harrumphed, because honestly, what would he do without her? Perish, probably. Iggy was well intentioned and as smart as the average male could expect to be, but he was so angsty sometimes. He would probably wallow his way to an early grave if it wasn't for her optimism and verve! He agreed that if they ever were to return they would need a bit of force behind them, and that thought alone was enough to make her laugh. "You'd be crowfood without me, no use denying it. And I've never been more pleased to ask 'You and what army?'"

She laughed again, a bit louder this time, and shifted as he did into a more comfortable space. "Just saying, doom and gloom don't exactly make for a charismatic leader, you know. Not that I'd ever have the patience to herd ducks, either, but you're right regardless. No sense in going back before the dust settles." Sephi was beyond pleased that her brother didn't seem to plan on rushing away from Eden any time soon, but she tried not to show it. Her relief soured as his sass returned, asking for more details of her journey. "I'm not sure you deserve to know anymore! I'll reserve my heroic deeds for those who can listen respectfully without sassing me, thankyouverymuch." She stuck her tongue out petulantly, then wormed it forward with hopes to tickle to fur inside his ear. That would teach him to mock her, hah!

He snorted, rolling his eyes and pretending to the best of his ability that there wasn't some grain of truth there in her words. Somehow the siblings managed to balance each other out. Whether or not he'd have made it out of puphood without her, or she without him was debatable at best. Between them looking out for one another and the rest of the litter and their mother doing her best to keep them in line things had panned out alright. Well, until recently, but as far as he could tell it hadn't been Ig's fault that they ended up here. That bit had blindsided him.

"Well, since I'm not wanted in other places, maybe I'll just become a king here," he laughed, shaking his head and automatically dismissing the idea. Although, he did like the thought of pissing off multiple wolves at once by ruling here. Of course he also never wanted to lead anyway, so it felt foolish to think about even in jest.

Ear flicking to the side as Sephi tickled him, Ig gave her a feigned snarl, rolling to aim a soft kick with his hind leg towards her side. "The queen of sass can't deal with a little taste of her own medicine? Gawd Sephi, you wimp, spill your tale before I have to beat it out of you." He'd preemptively try to shove her with both hind paws to keep any retaliation at bay, though Ig was pretty sure she wasn't above nibbling on his toes. That had probably happened once. "Unless you want me to drown you out with my own story. I'll drag it out three times longer than necessary." Hmm. Suddenly he was curious what all she'd heard of what happened. That would have to be brought up soon, though he was sure she'd mention it herself eventually anyway.

Sephi laughed as Ignatius did, finding her own vindictive pleasure in their situation. She got the sense that their reality no longer weighed as heavily on her as it did on her brother. Sure, it pissed her the hell off, but only because she seemed to be such a sore spot for the others around her back home. Which was ridiculous because anyone who knew her knew that she was obviously a complete fucking joy to be around. Luckily for her, pissing off the ignorant masses was also a treasured past time. "Well if you're going to be a King, I call dibs on head of the Kingsguard. I've been kicking ass in your name for long enough, might as well make it official." If she was being honest, the thought actually was pretty appealing.

She also knew that Ig really didn't want to lead squat. Maybe too bad for him though, because the more she thought about it the better that deal sounded. He could do the bureaucratic bullshit and she could revel in the spoils, and occasional chew on those who weren't on their level. She resolved to begin work on changing his mind.

He griped as she tickled his ear, which made her laugh all the more, even as Ig took a few swipes at her gut with his hind paws. She grunted as one landed just so, trying to mask the effectiveness of his lucky shot. "Oh, I'm a wimp, huh? Say it again, I dare ya," she boasted, curling her own hind paws up and sending out a few blind kicks in retaliation. "Be my guest, tell me your tale. I could use the help falling asleep!" In reality, even if she was too busy being a jerk to come out and say it, she really did want to know exactly what had happened to land them both in this situation. What had happened to her brother to force him out of their homeland and into exile? Sephi doubted very much that it would send her off snoozing, but she decided to save face, knowing that Iggy would tell her what she needed to know when he was ready.

Oh, now there was a funny thought. "Oh no, don't tempt me to say yes, I can only imagine what saddling you with real responsibility might lead to." Probably more than a few wildfires, and other types of destruction he'd yet to imagine. Shaking his head he huffed, "I'm pretty sure you mostly kick ass and bring my name into it, but sure." He didn't want to even try to count the number of times Sephi had managed to not only create major conflict but drag him into it with her. Well, to be fair he usually got involved to try and pull her by the tail away from trouble. Never really worked out how he hoped though.

He huffed as he got a literal ass kicking, and winced as he caught another blow to his lower ribs. Oof. "How about we just sleep and trade tales tomorrow? Now that you've mentioned it suddenly... my eyes, they grow heavier by the second." Honestly he was beat, but more importantly he still needed to figure out how to even begin his story. The main problem was he only knew his side. Whatever led up to this had clearly been plotted behind his back for some time, and he had failed to notice any sign of it. Like a damn fool.

"I don't know much anyway," he admitted after a moment, growing still before heaving a sigh and continuing, "I was framed for something awful... I didn't even fucking see it coming. And Sephi... she was a part of it." He wondered if Sephira already knew the 'reason'. She probably didn't know that the love of his life was involved though. Man, he almost couldn't even handle thinking about that part. It made his whole heart feel like an open wound. "I don't know for how long but... Shit, it doesn't matter at this point. Fucker got what he wanted, didn't he..." Ig trailed off, face contorted as the anger and indignation surged through him anew. There was a time when he would have given up his position as heir willingly, but the way he'd ended up losing it... It was vendetta material, that much was certain.

Sephira grinned at her brother in a way that was nearly feral, visible only because of the low light emanating from his pelt. She couldn't bring herself to be offended by the insinuation that her holding a position of responsibility might for poorly, because it absolutely had in the past. "Only on occasion," she argued half-heartedly. It wasn't her fault that starting trouble was as much if not more fun than cleaning it up.

One of her kicks landed and she was satisfied with it. She could always ambush him later as final payback, some time and place when Ig would be less prepared to retaliate. Seph made a mental note to find a bog or wallow or somewhere sufficiently gross that would be up to the task. Ig pled exhaustion, and even though she rolled her eyes, Sephira sort of had to agree. It was closer to dawn than sunset at this point, if she had to guess, and the sun would rise whether they wanted it to or not. "Aww, is baby Iggy tired? Well, alright. Don't try to tell anyone I'm completely merciless, I have my moments of kindness! I suppose I can let you sleep for a little while."

But her brother went on, obviously becoming more irate as the words tumbled out. In truth Seph didn't know much at all about what had befallen her brother, except that the higher ups in Mars' pack had seemed far too pleased to break the news to her. She hadn't even waited to say goodbye to anyone before heading out after him. Irritated, she grumbled, "Well shit Ig, leave me with a cliffhanger why don't you? I'm supposed to try to sleep on that? Jerk." Yeah they were definitely going to have a nice long chat in the morning, but for now she would try her best to quiet down the gears he had just set turning, praying for at least an hour or two of rest before they would have to figure their shit out for real. These were the times she almost wished her life was boring.

His will to continue with the banter more or less died as soon as he started fully focusing back on the situation they were in and how it came to be. It was all bullshit. Honestly his normally relatively even temper would begin to boil over anytime he thought about it. That was good though, it masked the hurt that laying below, waiting for him to sink into it when the rage burned out.

Part of him wanted to spill the rest of the story to Seph now. It wasn't fair to keep her in the dark any longer, it wasn't right but... How was he supposed to say this? Honestly he wished he was anywhere else at the moment. He tried to just roll over and let the conversation fade out, but... That wasn't right either. Avoiding it was just going to keep him up all night, he had to man up and break the news.

"It gets worse, Seph." His voice caught in his throat, his eyes squeezed shut and his ears fell back to his skull in a pained expression. It felt like his heart was being crushed under the most immense weight. Ig felt as powerless and ineffective as the day he'd been exiled. Worse. Now Sephi had to hear it for the first time and he almost doubted he could do it.

Sephi could feel the aggravation rolling off of her sibling. Rage, even, which was unusual for him. Sephira frowned. "It gets worse, Seph." The words choked up in his throat, and she felt something similar clog her own windpipe. Somehow she knew, she knew, that they would not be forced to flee their home for anything less that a catastrophic misunderstanding. And yet, Ig was making it sound like something even more disastrous. A plot, a plan to remove him from the pack infrastructure. Her hackles rose.

"Well," she began, and was immediately incensed by the weakness of her own paltry argument. Sephira picked back up with more fervor, "Well! Whatever happened Ig, you know I'm with you, right?" She continued with an uncharacteristic honesty. "We've lived in the shadow of animosity for so long, you know there's nothing I'd want more than to shove the truth up somewhere the sun don't shine. Whatever you wanna do, I'm with you." She left it unsaid that she would follow his lead to hell and back. He ought to know by this point that Sephira realized her brother was the brains of this operation. Wherever he decided to go, she would follow, whether she liked it or not. He could take his time in telling his story, it made no difference so her. She would be there regardless.

Sephi sighed. "Go to bed, dumdum. You can tell me tomorrow, or another day, whatever. Whatever happened, nothing will change the fact that we're here together. We'll figure it out." Just like always, she added on in her own mind. They had seen some shit together. Whatever went down, Seph was pretty sure they'd seen worse. Then again, she couldn't remember many times in her life she had ever seen her brother this affected by something. The thought rankled her, she she chewed the inside of her cheek and kept quiet. They'd figure it out, some day, some how. They always did.

.... -Exit????-

He was sure she knew how serious this was. Ignatius was prone to brooding and glumness but this... this was different. The gravity of the situation was thick in the air of the den. Resentment filled his heart, boiled over with uncharacteristic intensity. Usually anger and holding grudges was more Mars' territory. Ig never wanted any part of his father's personality to manifest in him. The idea alone was repulsive enough to calm the storm that was brewing in his heart for a time.

Not telling her now wouldn't change things. What had happened would still have happened, but... It didn't feel right to just put it off. Still, Sephi made it clear she had his back, a hundred percent, no matter what. Letting her live another day or two without hearing the news wouldn't be the end of the world. Maybe he was just worried about telling her because he selfishly wanted to share the anguish sooner, to make her help him carry the burden of sadness. Shifting his position to be a bit more comfortable, Ignatius finally mumbled, "I know we will..." He didn't sound like he believed it, but he wanted to so he said it anyway.

-exit via sleep-