Rain was not something that Artorias had been in what felt like an age. Yet here it was, heavy, fat raindrop beginning to fall from the sky, first only a couple every minute or so, then several a minute. Now it had become a steady drizzle, the heavy gray clouds overhead threatening to open up the heavens across Auster at a moment's notice. So used to the cold and the snow had the dark-furred boy become that it almost felt like a reprieve to feel the water dripping into his fur, the warmer weather having just about melted all the snow and ice from sight. The rain would take care of the rest now, and soon the land would be a lush and vivacious green again.

Artorias had been out doing his routine patrols for the morning, moving clockwise around Hallowed land from the castle and was now near the eastern border by the forest that stretched out beyond. He no longer felt the emotional drain of his mother's slow decay, nor the frustrations of the strained relationship he'd kindled with Sirius. All he felt was just tired. Tired and weathered and worn down. When he slept, it was not restful sleep. It was passive, dreamless, empty. His days had become standard routines meant to do nothing but whittle away time waiting for the inevitability of the other foot to drop. Resin was almost entirely gone now, and it seemed like they had days, maybe a couple of weeks left if they were lucky. Or would it be considered unlucky, given how things were?

The boy closed his eyes and stopped his patrol for a moment, simply letting the rain cut through his fur and run cool over his skin. It felt refreshing, rejuvenating in a sense. It also permitted him to let out a few stress-induced tears without anyone being the wiser. He had nothing left to give, nothing left to feel or to be. Between Resin and Sirius and Tamsyn, he was just exhausted and spent. But just as he did in his daily life, Artorias forced himself to keep moving forward, so onward through the rain he continued his path, his mind and eyes empty, his body running on autopilot.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

It was no longer so cold that rain turned to snow long before it touched the earth. Nope. now, good old sogging wet rain was what soaked the earth - and the miserable boy stalking near the edges of pack territory. Whenever Mortis was sad, he had always run to his mother. Except for the time when he hadn’t. His fight with Hana had driven him towards the Hallows, and now he regretted that it had led her away from her.

He didn’t want to face Hikaru, who had seen him at his worst. He didn’t want to face Sirius, who was volatile on the best of days. Half his siblings had split after hearing the news on Zee. he had lingered near the Armada for a few days, trying to comfort some of the younger siblings.

Eventually, he let himself drift back to the Hallows again. He hadn’t seen Resin since she had gotten sick, and he wished so badly for the guidance of his kindly Grandmother again. Wished… wished that he didn’t have to keep watching everybody die or leave him.

The rain was almost fitting, and he barely cared that he was soaked. He lifted his head to the sky, his wings dropping in the outpour. He almost missed the wolf, the black and blue of their coat blending into the dreary weather. His scent hidden by the rain. It was the movement that gave him away. Mortis lifted his head, his wings shifting with the motion. A Hallows wolf? Then he recognised the wolf - if by description and not familiarity. “Hey…. Art, right?” he asked sheepishly. If he was lucky, maybe the other boy wouldn’t realise he had been sulking.

"Speech"

In his autopilot walking, Artorias had not noticed the giant winged wolf sitting just along the borders of Hallows territory. So much for being an effective patrol if he didn't pick up on the large dark-furred wolf that bore a striking resemblance to his father. It was the voice that pulled Artorias out of his depressed stupor, fire-like eyes flashing behind a few quick blinks while he looked up at the wolf through the rain. He had seen him skulking around the Hallows for the past season—it was the wings that tipped him off—but he had never interacted with him before. He had bore the scent of the Armada and the colors of the Fatalis family. Briar had mentioned him before during one of her trips down here, stating he was an older brother. But what did she say his name was again...?

"Hi..." he responded, nodding when the dire wolf greeted him by nickname. "Yep, that's me. It's... Mortis...?" It came off more as a question, but that sounded right. Resin had mentioned it once also before her mind went, and at the time it hadn't meant much to him. But the dire wolf had never made himself a nuisance or a bother in any way, shape, or form, preferring to keep mostly to himself, which Art didn't mind. It just meant they hadn't had much of a reason to interact before now. "What are you doing out here in the rain? Wouldn't you prefer to be back in the castle?" he asked, his gait slowing to a stop so he could take a moment to talk to his new companion.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

He got to his paws as the other wolf addressed him by name. They’d walked in similar circles, but there had never really been a time for them to meet. Huh. somehow it surprised him to realise he was taller than the other boy. It always did. He missed being a pocket-sized wing menace. Things had been… things had been good then.

“I…. needed some air.” He explained, as he lifted out a wing, shook off some of the wetness, and held it over Art’s head. The inside feathers were dry, so it didn’t drip. It was heavy, but Mort had spent most of his life wiggling his wings over other peoples bodies. He was accustomed to the feeling. “What about you? Did you decide you needed a bath?”

"Speech"

Mortis' response was so... normal, it somehow felt off. He didn't push the matter though; the Fatalis wolf's business was his own, after all, and he didn't need to be snooping. Artorias watched in confusion when Mortis stretched out one of his large wings, wondering what he was up to until he suddenly realized there was now a lack of rain falling on his face. A quick glance up confirmed that Mortis was shielding him from the weather with his wing. Artorias was still baffled by how a wolf could have wings like a bird and silently wondered if Mortis was able to fly as well, but something about that line of thought felt inappropriate to ask out loud. He scoffed and shook his head when Mortis questioned why he was out in the bad weather himself.

"I was running patrols. Someone has to," he replied, hesitating before adding, "...I just couldn't be in the castle for a minute longer. I needed to go somewhere..." Somewhere where he wasn't constantly reminded of how his family was suffering. Somewhere where he couldn't hear the wild snarls and howls of his dying mother. Somewhere where he wouldn't feel suffocated by the weight of his responsibility to keep his family on their feet. "...else." He glanced up at Mortis' wing again, bringing his gaze down to meet the older man's blue eyes. "You don't have to do that for me, y'know. I'm sure that's not comfortable to hold your..." Gods, what did he even say? Limb? Wing? Appendage? What was the correct term?! "...wing like that."

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

Resin He thought. He had almost forgotten, idiot that he was. Artorias was Resin’s son. Here he was, sniffling because he couldn’t run to grandmother and cry about what happened to his mother. Here Art was, losing Resin. Losing his mother. He met Art’s sad eyes, and knew his own smile was losing most of its luster. Not that it had had a great deal of that to begin with.

“Yeah… Me too.” that was why he was here after all, instead of in the Armada. Hiding. He looked at his wing when Art did, as through he had never seen it before. “I… I like doing this. Honestly, they aren’t good for much else.” he admitted, trying to think about the image of Azure pushing him off the cliff that always came with that thought. No more Azure. No more Azure to hate and love and envy and adore. No more Azure to sneer at him in disdain and wish Mort was stronger. Better. “Do you… do you think it will always hurt?”

"Speech"

Ah, so Mortis was also getting away from the problems plaguing his mind. He could understand and empathize with him. He had just lost his mother and his brother, just like how Artorias was currently in the process of losing his mother. Deaths of mothers seemed to be the in-style for the season, it seemed... He didn't know whether he should address Mortis' loss if he was trying to ignore it, but it didn't feel right in his heart to just pretend like it didn't happen. "I'm sorry, for the loss of your mother and brother," he said, paws carrying him closer to sit down in the damp grass beside Mortis so the bigger wolf wouldn't have to stretch his wing quite so much. Art's ears folded to his skull and his shoulders slumped while he let the weight of the world settle over him like a blanket. Here they were, two sons hiding from the horrors of a reality without a parent, trying to pretend it didn't hurt. What a pair they made.

"How did you get them...?" he asked, looking back up to Mortis; impressive wings. They appeared to be just like a bird's wings, except they jutted from the wolf's back just behind his shoulders. So he couldn't fly with them... so how had he ended up with the feathered appendages? He hoped he wasn't being rude by asking, and was already mentally preparing an apology, just in case. Mortis asked him if he thought the loss would always hurt. Artorias hesitated in his answer. This was his first time experiencing a loss this close to his heart, and he honestly had no idea what to expect. "I don't know... I hope not," he eventually said, peering back out over the rainy plains. "I don't think it will ever go away, maybe just get better over time. Like, maybe we heal, learn to live without the ones we lose, and maybe we get back to normal... but the hurt will always be like a button in our hearts. Sometimes that button gets pressed a lot, and sometimes it doesn't get pressed for months, maybe years at a time..."

He didn't know if that exactly answered Mortis' question, but he hoped that's how it was. He knew he would never forget his mother, and as long as he had the memories to bring him joy, they would also bring him heartache. But he wouldn't dare trade them away for anything. If living with the pain was the cost of loving someone so deeply, it was a price of admission he would pay time and time again. "What do you think?" he asked, turning fiery eyes up to cool blue.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

“Yeah… Me too.” Mortis said again, trying to smile like it was a joke, but his lips pulled in all the wrong directions. No. No, he was not going to cry in front of this wolf. “I hated him, but I loved him too, you know?” it wasn’t really a question. He swiped at his eyes. Damn rain was making them blurry.

Art settled in beside him, and Mortis adjusted his wing accordingly. He shrugged at Arts question. “I was born with them. Silly, right? A wolf having wings. I’m too heavy for them to fly, but if they catch the wind just right they can slow my descent to the ground a little.” it was easier to talk about his wings. So much so that he found himself babbling a little. “I used to climb all the trees in the Armada” he paused to show his cat-like claws “And I would sit in the tree tops and wait to ambush other pack members. I got Tam a few times that way. My Ma- “ wait, he wasn’t supposed to be talking about her. But he couldn’t stop the words. “My Ma always pretended she couldn’t smell me, But she started to get more cautious, pretending she didn’t see the ambush coming when I started to get big enough to squash her.” The damn rain. He swiped his eyes a few more times.

“My dad gets scary when he’s angry, so I used to sneak into Resins den and snuggle with her and Tam instead….” and no more Resin “I’m… I’m sorry about Resin.” what do you think Art had asked. Mort wasn’t sure he had an answer. “It’s like a hole in my chest, and I don’t know how to fill it.”

"Speech"

Artorias didn't know if he could empathize with Mortis' love and hate relationship with his brother. He had only ever known love for his siblings. Well, okay, maybe Rudyard could get obnoxious sometimes, but never to the point where he would call it hate. He listened with rapt attention while Mortis regaled him with how he ha diene born with his wings, but had been too heavy to fly so he mostly used them to glide. He watched as the dire wolf extended his feline-like claws from his paws, glancing between those, the wings, and the saber fangs jutting from his upper jaw. Just how many mutations did this wolf have?! Suddenly, Artorias felt very plain and inadequate compared to such a unique creature like Mortis Fatalis.

The stories from Mort's childhood did bring a few smiles to Artorias' face. The way he climbed trees and used them to ambush pack members—including his own mother—got a chuckle out of him. His mother, who would pretend not to notice him until he got too big to ignore. It reminded him of how Tamsyn had made a comment about he'd gotten so tall already. It seemed like all mothers were the same deep down, not wanting their babies to grow out of their puppy phases. He talked about his father's anger, something Artorias had become very familiar with as of late. It seemed that Sirius' rage was a common thread between all of the Fatalis children that ostracized them from their patriarch, as he had heard the same from Briar and saw her cower when facing her angry father.

"I've seen your dad's anger up close. It's definitely not pretty." Artorias thought back to when he and Sirius had gotten into the shouting match on the castle walls and how that had turned out. Luckily for him, Seer hadn't opted to take his suggestion to kill himself when he'd yelled it in a fit of anger. This conversation would be much more awkward if he had. Mortis' condolences for Resin made Art's posture droop a little more, but he appreciated the sentiment. "Yeah, me too..." he replied, mimicking the bigger male's words when he'd shared the same sympathies. A hole in your chest... that was a good way to phrase it. "If you figure out a way to fill it, be sure to let me know. I'm right there with you."

Artorias was quiet for a few moments, just watching the rain fall around them. He didn't know why he hadn't ever held a conversation with Mortis before; the young man was pleasant company. "At least we'll always have the memories to remind us why loving them was worth all the pain at the end..." he quipped, mostly to himself, but he also felt Mortis might get something out of the words. "Do you have any plans for what comes next? For you or your family?"

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

He supposed it didn’t matter now that Mortis had dropped out of the running for Heir. Without Azure to compete with, what was the point? Asla was Reaper, and she had taken charge while their father was figuring things out. She was a better fit for the role then he would ever be.

“No… It’s not. I’m the oldest, I was supposed to be his heir, and his wonder child, but he got stuck with me instead.” That sounded too much like whining. His family was a twisted mess at the moment. He had… no idea where his future lay now. It barely seemed to matter at the moment. He thought of the hole Hana had left in him. He still hadn’t figured out how to fill that one yet either.

Art was quiet for a moment, and Mortis didn’t feel the need to fill it. He looked up at the rain too. He didn’t have the shield of his wing, and it dribbled in his eyes and down his face. He was soaked already, so it didn’t make him any more wet.

“Will I?” he asked Artorias, the words unexpectedly hurting him. “Will I?” he asked again. “He threw me off a cliff and broke my leg. He hated me. I just wanted to be him, and he hated me. He wasn’t the easiest wolf to love, but I did it anyway. If I have just his memories, would I eventually forget that I loved him?” The cliff instance had always been one big secret, but it didn’t matter now. “I don’t know. I never wanted to be what my father wanted me to be, I was never Azure, and I don’t want to try and fill his shoes. I don’t know if I have a place there anymore, not without my Ma.”

"Speech"

Mortis' sudden outburst when he had mentioned having the good memories in their absence caught Artorias off guard. He hadn't expected such a volatile reaction from the seemingly calm and laidback wolf beside him, but apparently his brother had been a sore spot for him. He had never met Azure, and he was only just now getting to know Mortis, but apparently there was some bad blood between them. It seemed strange to him then that he would say he wanted to be him if Azure hated him. He didn't try to understand the Fatalis family though; that entire sect of wolves seemed pretty fucked up—all except for Briar who seemed to be the most well-adjusted of the lot. It sounded to him like Mortis was having an identity crisis between what he was and what Sirius wanted to be and what Azure had been.

"So don't be," Artorias responded plainly to Mortis' claim that he didn't want to be Azure. "Just be you. Be what you want to be. Your father will love you for who you are. And if he doesn't, then he doesn't deserve you as a son. But at least you'll have a definitive answer of where you belong: in the Armada or elsewhere." He shrugged his shoulders; he was probably oversimplifying the situation, but even the most complex of problems could have a simple solution.

He peered up at Mortis then, searching the gentle giant's expression for a reaction to get a read on. "Would you consider joining the Hallows?" he asked after a minute of contemplation. He wasn't able to officially offer Mortis a place within their ranks, but as Baron he held some influence over the pack's decisions. If the Armada wanted to throw Mortis out, the Hallows was always open to wolves like him. "Maybe you could find your calling here? Or at the very least get your paws underneath you to make a plan for yourself. I know my Mom Tam would love having you around."

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________