Guess I’m taking the fall
The first steps across the rocky train here were hard. Not physically - he had kept up with his training and was more than capable of making the journey into the mountains. No, the challenge was entirely mental and emotional. For the longest time he had believed that he would never return here, but with his aunt insisting on making the journey back before it was too late for her to do so, he felt pulled to join them on the journey. Something continued to pull him back to Boreas with a draw that was strong enough to pull on his soul.
Everything was silent around him, the only sound to be heard was the rustling of the evergreen branches in the wind. His paws carried him to a small jutting of rock that made the perfect vantage point to look out over the open expanse of mountains and his dual colored eyes observed the view with a tightness in his jaw and shoulders that he didn’t know how to shake. It felt like both years ago and yesterday when he had last stood in this spot... so much younger and so unaware of the world.
Some might say you still are, a faceless voice whispered to him, making his ear twitch toward where it seemed to come from though he knew he was the only one to hear it. What do you know of the world, hm? Ran away with your mother just to hide and come back now when nothing more can be done to fix what fell apart? The voice taunted him till his teeth were gritted together and his scruff began to prickle. What does doing that teach you of the world? Do you think that foolishly facing a bear makes you an adult ready to face the world?
He rolled his scared shoulder as it ached with the memory of that encounter. His mother had certainly chewed him out for that one... Not that he had needed her to. He knew it had been a foolish, childish endeavor from the beginning. Some faint part of himself that still clung to the idea that he could only grow strong like his father by following his foot steps. He knew better now, but he still had the scars to prove that he didn’t learn that lesson soon enough. Lets all hope you learn your next lessons faster than that one. Your mother won’t be around to patch you up now. Then who will be there to kiss it and make it better?
A snarl curled at his lips, but the sound of someone behind him grabbed his attention and snapped him out of his own mind. His hackles fell flat and his expression relaxed as he turned around, already settled into a neutral facade before his ruby and sapphire gaze landed on the individual in question. His gaze widened, shock and speechlessness gripping him. Time had passed and they had both grown and aged since he had last seen the blue eyed male, but there was no mistaking him. ”Dominus?”
The first kill he'd ever made was a mountain goat up in the Maw, under the supervision of his father alongside his twin sister. The twins had hunted it together, and despite whatever may have happened between him and his family before and after that time, it was a rare, fond memory of his father when he remembered it. Elias actually seemed stable when he was hunting, focused on teaching and not losing prey... it kept him distracted from his fragile mind, and allowed him to prove he was an excellent mentor at least in that regard. For Dominus, there was no other moment that he could recall that had made him feel more proud in his life than that one. His first hunt in front of the eyes of his sister and his father, though that pride did not last long.
"I wonder if Ignis, Casso, or Actaea have hunted yet. What do you suppose they caught? Actaea is smart, I bet she could trick anything into becoming her meal!" The memory of Domina's voice filled him with nostalgia, nearly recreating the warmth of her presence at his side as they slept in the Mountains. Dominus pulled his thoughts away, continuing to put his focus on his assessment of the Maw. It hadn't been the same since Volkan erupted. There were never any prey here when he checked, which left him forced to hunt elsewhere and risk running into other wolves and potential packs. He longed for the day that the Maw was inhabitable again.
Dominus appeared to be a habitual creature in his maturity. He had wandered across Boreas and some of Auster, though he always ended up right back here. Despite all that happened, he did not feel a need to run away from it like he did after witnessing Domina's death. He had spent his time running, and he found his way back. Now all he wanted was to live out his days in peace and remember the good side of his dad, free of demons, and the brightness of his sister. Perhaps one day he would have whelplings of his own, and perhaps one day.. Domina would come back.
His blue eyes glistened at the thought as the gears in his brain began to overclock. Out of all the Ruina ideals, he had to say that the thought of reincarnation and the immortality of souls appealed to him most. He often wondered how many were inside of him alone. These thoughts filled his head, along with the words of his Uncle Regulus, going back and forth like a debate while his large paws carefully climbed ash-covered stone and soil. It made it hard to determine which was which.
The smell of his family awoke him from these thoughts, his pupils immediately turning into pinpoints and turning those blue eyes into open seas. His ears stood attentive and tall, and the goosebumps of his skin prickled his thick mountainous fur just a bit. The behemoth's heartrate had already been a bit elevated from the climb, but nostalgia made it soar as he followed the trail of his brother. Massive pawsteps fell in place of his brother's own as he tried to assess from the tracks alone how he was doing, gauging the scent for signs of poor health or anything otherwise. He appeared healthy. At first, it was difficult to tell if he was following Ignis' or Casso's scent, but he suspected Ignis since he knew Ignis' was alive with Actaea for some time.
As he drew nearer and the scent became fresher, he discovered it to belong to Casso. He rushed the rest of the way up the trail of the Maw, one of the same that he used to travel as a pup - an easier route that he wondered if Casso remembered too. When he actually set eyes on the back of his darker brother, he froze. All thoughts of what he would do now that he caught up to him had been neglected, his jaw opened and closed again as the sound of his heart racing filled his ears. He had no idea how to announce himself, or how to react in the event that Casso did not remember him at all.
Casso turned around, looked at him, and Dominus became as solid as ever. Those dual-tone eyes hit him hard and every muscle in the man's body tensed as he anticipated recognition of some sort. He'd been alone for so long, he hadn't realized how much he'd hoped for familiarity and for that to finally end until Casso looked at him.
"Dominus?" His brother's matured voice fell on his ears for the first time, and all tension in the man's muscles that he had been holding on to in anxiety seemed to melt.
Dominus has a black snake that stalks him. Unless mentioned already by me, it is welcomed to powerplay this snake and allow your character to notice it somewhere in your posts.
Dominus says bad words, he can also be very unstable. All Dominus' threads are mature.
In reality he didn’t need his brother to confirm his identity. It didn’t matter that time had passed, they had aged, new scars had been won, and they physically appeared far different than when they last saw each other. He was convinced that siblings never forgot each other - that there was something tying their souls together that would eventually bring them back together at some point. This just happened to be that point for he and Dominus. No matter how long he had been away, his siblings had always been a low burning worry in the back of his mind. He hadn’t felt like he could have come back to check on them before now, but he couldn’t deny the relief he felt now that he had eyes on his brother. There was an undeniable guilt there as well for the length of time that he was gone, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. Now all he was left with was an opportunity to reconnect with his family... however much of it might be left.
He noticed how Dom seemed to pull himself up into a naturally confident stance, taking on the stature of someone who was sure of himself and was proud in his own way. It was a stance that Casso had never felt comfortable taking and surely wouldn’t try now. He was easily able to meet his brother’s gaze, but he remained more casual in the way he held himself. A small, pleased smirk pulled at his lips as he looked his brother over and verified that the larger brute was healthy and well. As much as he agreed that a lot had changed, there were some things that remained the same and for that he was glad. He had worried that Dom may have shown disappointment or anger toward him for leaving, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He could feel them falling back into the same brotherly banter they always had and it felt like a happy reunion on both sides.
”Of course,” he commented as he returned Dom’s grin. ”I assume you’ve been doing the same?” His training was one of the few things that had actually been a consistent in his life. It was often an escape and a way for him to distract himself form the constant, nagging plague of his own mind. He wondered at times if his skills were really as developed as they would have been with a proper teacher, but that wasn’t something that had been available to him for a while now. His mother, aunt, and older sister hadn’t been fighters and certainly didn’t have much to share with him in that department. Most of what he knew was from trial and error and lots of attempts. ”I haven’t found many challenging opponents lately though...”
He smirked at the unspoken invitation and started to shift into a more stable, defendable stance. In a way, a spar felt like a more real greeting among his brothers than a ‘hello’. The demons in his soul were for once silent, but his entire being felt like it was humming with anxious energy. Fighting had never been his preferred study, falling to the wayside beside hunting, but there was an undeniable joy to be had challenging himself to take on someone clearly more suited to it like Dominus. Any fear of failure he might of had was completely gone, eclipsed by an eagerness to reconnect with his brother.
Casso's words were contagions, transferring that same excited and anxious energy within him to get started with this little reunion spar. He remembered trying to ambush Casso during a meeting they attended with their father, but Casso had been too quick and dodged him - did he still hold the same agility? They were both much larger now. Even so...
The thought was kept in his mind but ignored for now as he focused on wrapping his powerful forelimbs around his brother's neck if he did not move. Simultaneously, his agape maw would attempt to bundle some of the neck fat available on the upper right portion of Casso's nape while it closed. He hoped to gain control over his brother and use his weight to his advantage if his pounce was successful, but half of him hoped his brother would evade and make things challenging. ♥
Non-judged spar, round one!
Dominus has a black snake that stalks him. Unless mentioned already by me, it is welcomed to powerplay this snake and allow your character to notice it somewhere in your posts.
Dominus says bad words, he can also be very unstable. All Dominus' threads are mature.
The moment he spotted his brother's grin he knew what was going to come next and he was more than ready for it. The thrill in his bones felt like he could feel it humming in his soul, a teeth-baring grin permanently on his lips. The larger of the pair leapt forward with his forelimbs outstretched toward him. His smaller, more nimble size was about all he had to play to his advantage so he leaned into that part of him heavily. He ducked and made a quick side step away from Dominus' attempted grasp, but not without catching his brother's large paws against his shoulder. It knocked him off balance a bit and caused his side step to turn into more of a stagger, but he was quick to recover. He turned on the uneven, rocky terrain to face the blue-eyed wolf again, that wild grin still planted on his muzzle. Even though fighting had never been his strength, it didn't mean he didn't enjoy it. It gave him that same heart-pounding excitement he felt when he was hunting large prey or going after a larger predator. This might be just a playful spar between brothers, but that didn't stop the adrenaline from hitting his system all the same. His claws gripped into the ground, gaining purchase against the rocky surface as he pushed himself forward to launch his own attack. Casso aimed for Dom's right leg, parting his jaws as he leapt toward his brother and aimed a bite toward the darkly colored limp. He wouldn't bite too terribly hard of course, just enough to try and pull him off balance if he was able to get a hold of him. He might be caught up in the thrill of the fight, but he had enough sense to not cause his brother any real damage. But, at the same time... What was a few bite marks between siblings? |
Casso didn't let him down, sidestepping just in time to avoid the bulk of Dom's weight from landing on top of him. The maw that had been parted and prepared to bite forfeited it's agape stance involuntarily, Dom's thick teeth clenching together as another grin spread across it. His heart thumped wildly in his chest as he enjoyed himself, his blue eyes shimmering in the sunlight as he searched for the heterochromic gaze of his brother. Dominus' caught the sight just in time to witness Casso lunging for his front right leg, though was unable to quickly escape the bite before it landed.
Casso would likely be tugged just a bit as Dominus pulled on his leg, trying to lift his weight to the best of his abilities without much care for the extra damage it would cause to the already inflicted wound. He used the thick of his skull and his weight to his advantage, lining up the broadest part of his forehead with Casso's exposed temple (due to the assumed tilt of his head he would have to hold in order to grab a leg); the force of his body weight coming back down mixed with the strength of his neck and weight of his skull would hopefully be enough to disorient his brother a little bit and force him to let go. He hoped so, anyway, that bite was beginning to hurt after his own reckless trashing.
Non-judged spar, round two!
Dominus has a black snake that stalks him. Unless mentioned already by me, it is welcomed to powerplay this snake and allow your character to notice it somewhere in your posts.
Dominus says bad words, he can also be very unstable. All Dominus' threads are mature.
His teeth connected with Dom's leg and he found himself gripping onto it as his brother yanked his leg leg away from him in the same way he might try to latch onto a deer he was trying to down. Instead of landing his bite and letting go as he had originally intended, the thrashing his brother did had made his teeth sink deeper into Dom's skin and with the damage already done he decided to just ride it out and see if he could still manage to pull Dominus off balance. He was on a high of adrenaline and was as utterly focused on this fight as he would be in a hunt, but instead of trying to earn himself a meal he was dead set on proving his worth to his brother. This felt like his reintroduction to the Praetor side of his blood and it was... thrilling. It was all much more rough and tumble and less organized and thought out than the training spars he had experienced with the wolves he had been living with. This felt more raw and more real even though it was not much more than a quick scuffle between brothers.
His one red eye shifted and caught Dom rearing his head back out of the corner of his vision only moments before his brother went to head butt him. It was far too late for him to effectively dodge him, and a second later he felt Dominus' head connect hard with the side of his own. It made him grunt with pain and sent stars across his vision and made him release the limb he was gripping on to, but not before his teeth unintentionally ripped though the skin there a bit more as he jerked his head back. He stumbled back from Dom by a few steps, shaking his head a bit to clear the ringing that the hit to his temple had caused. When he blinked his eyes open again he shot Dominus a crooked grin and chuckled, panting lightly from the way the quick fight had made his heart race.
Casso considered launching another attack, but the logical side of his mind finally spoke up and reminded him that there was no way for him to truly win against Dominus - especially not with his balance thrown off the way it was now. "I've missed this," he said truthfully with another slightly breathless chuckle. He still had mixed feelings about being back in Boreas, but finding Dominus had reminded him why he wanted to find his siblings so badly. As much as he wanted to be different than his father, there was no denying that pull that he had to the Praetor side of him.
non-judged spar, round two <3
"Speech" Thought
The headbutt he'd given his brother was strong enough to cause himself to see a few stars as well. The titan stumbled a bit once his brother actually let go, the weight he had been fighting against now being released and causing him a bit of imbalance. In an effort to keep himself upright and ready for another attack, he accidentally applied too much pressure onto his wounded limb in a quick step to prevent himself from falling. Immediately, he realized the damage that had been done due to his recklessness once his full weight had been applied. Even with high adrenaline, it hurt and he knew he would be healing from the bite for a few days before he could run properly again.
After he found his balance, he lifted his right leg and inspected it; he watched blood turn his already dark fur sleek as it rolled down his paw and dripped to the dirt on the mountain, he would have to find a way to stop it but for now, his focus was on this fight. He flashed his blue eyes up to his brother and readied himself in a defensive position once again. He assumed there would be another attack, but what he was met with was a chuckle and just the sound gave Dominus a bit of a smile.
'I missed this.'
Dominus couldn't hide the grin that spread across his own maw when he heard those words, his tail finding itself swaying behind his stocky frame as he relaxed a bit and realized the fight was over and that Casso had surrendered. Dominus wondered if the fight would have come out differently if he had not; Casso was strong and held a relentless bite.. a worthy opponent that Dominus felt quite well-matched with. He didn't mind stopping, though.. he didn't need any more wounds to keep him from hunting properly and staying well-fed.
Dominus has a black snake that stalks him. Unless mentioned already by me, it is welcomed to powerplay this snake and allow your character to notice it somewhere in your posts.
Dominus says bad words, he can also be very unstable. All Dominus' threads are mature.
When his brother questioned whether or not he was here to stay he thought the easy, immediate answer would be “yes”. After all, where else did he have to go? The band that he had been living in with their mother and Baine didn’t feel nearly as welcoming without them and he had only really tried to make that place work because of them. He supposed he could go off on his own and find somewhere completely different to forge his own path, but... he treasured his family. He would miss them greatly if he gave up trying to be with them entirely.
”I am,” he finally responded after a beat of silence, giving a small, confirming nod. He looked out over the mountains around them before he added, ”I’m not sure if I’m ready to be here specifically, but... I’ll at least be in Boreas.” He would at least be easy to find again and that’s what was important. Perhaps with time he could come to call this mountain range home again, but for now his mind was not strong enough to withstand the power his memories held.
"Speech" Thought