Although he wasn't scrawny by any means, it was clear to see in the tall brute's build that he hadn't been with a pack in some time. He simply did not hold the muscle mass that he was capable of and in some areas, his ribs protruded even through the thickness of his hide. As lazy as he was, he'd only hunt enough when alone to keep himself from becoming too weak to travel but he knew that if he were to have any hope of being somewhat useful as a squire, he'd have to do something to change that. He set off early in the morning with intent to feed himself, whether it be on rotting carcasses laying around the pack lands or a meal he could track down himself. After wandering around the falls for the better part of an hour and admiring the scenery, he came up empty handed on his scavenging attempt and reluctantly headed toward the borders to see what he could find waiting for him on the other side. The winter had coated the morning ground in a light layer of frost, though any activity through-out the early hours was easily traced as even his own prints left an outstanding disturbance in it's otherwise perfect setting. He had to travel a considerable distance away from the falls in order to find something interesting, but eventually he found the tracks of a coyote. Stringy and not the most appetizing of meals but it was better than wasting his energy on a morsel like a rabbit, and they weren't quite as agile as a fox. He'd take it, though the hunt was considerably longer than he'd originally thought it would be. As soon as the tall wolf came up on the coyote, it ran quite literally for it's life and it took nearly half an hour until it finally stumbled and give Archelaus a chance to sink his teeth into it. His jaws easily crushed the poor things throat without hesitation and as the coyote suffocated and lost his breath at his paws, Archie took a moment to catch his own. He picked up his prize and made his way back to the falls, wanting to be out of the eyes of any other scavengers or lone wolves before he truly settled down to dig in. It was getting later in the morning now, as well.. he was eager to discover how many familiar faces were still left in Fiori and how many new ones had been brought in. He settled at the side of one of the pools and began pulling the coyote's hide out from around it's belly before gutting it and taking his fill. It didn't take much for his smaller stomach, though by the end of it all over half the coyote was in shambles. He'd need to feed again regularly, but for now he was satisfied with his work with self-maintenance. Licking his chops, he secretly hoped for some company.

Tiburtius crossed back into Fiori's lands with a slight smile on his lips, still on a high from seeing Finch again. He started making his way down the incline of the falls toward the mangroves, but he stopped when a familiar scent caught his attention. His ears perked and head turned as his two-toned eyes searched for the source. It took him a moment, but he finally spotted Archelaus' silvery form a fair distance away and he blinked with surprise with he did. He hadn't seen Archelaus in... How long had it been? He wasn't really all that sure. Either way, he was quick to change his path so that he could head toward his brother. His tail wagged gently behind him as he grinned and called out, "Archelaus!" He supposed that he hadn't been around when Archie had rejoined or perhaps he had just missed his brother's howl. Tib had admittedly been a bit absent as of late with his trips out of the pack, so he wasn't entirely surprised that he had missed something. Hey there, brother! When did you get back?" He stopped across from Archie, seeing that his brother had gotten himself a kill recently. He settled onto his haunches as his tail continued to wag and brush slowly against the ground behind him. Slowly their family was rebuilding itself. This was the most complete it had been in a long time and he imagined that this would be the most complete it would ever be. He didn't imagine that Bacchus would return to Fiori at this point, if he ever came back at all. But in a way Bacchus had disconnected himself so he couldn't point any blame besides at Bacchus himself. Tib shoved those thoughts away though and focused back in on Archie, giving his brother a smile. Speak Thought Others

Two years. It had been two years since he'd been around his brothers, only a bit shorter than that for the rest of his family. It was crazy to think of that much time passing and how many moons had come and set since then, how many nights he'd spent alone or with her. When his brother appeared in his field of vision, Archelaus paused-- laying out on the cold soil next to a frosty pool completely still as his rubies stared and took in the image of his brother. They had once shared a womb together, but in their time apart he'd nearly forgotten what the three of his littermates looked like at all. It was refreshing to see him again and as he heard his voice, a smile came to his lips as the memories all returned to him. It was an overwhelming feeling but he was reluctant to show any sort of sign that he was actually enjoying himself, instead the usual look of indifference returned to his face save for a defiant smirk. His front legs pushed against the nearly frozen ground as he got to his haunches while his brother closed the space between them. He did not seem to care in the slightest about the coyote, but he appreciated the distance his brother held out of respect. "A few nights ago, it's good to see you're still around, Tiburtius. It's been so long, I nearly forgot how ugly you were." He sniffed the air a bit, taking in the scents his brother carried with them as before he chuckled. "Not ugly enough to scare off the ladies, though I guess. Is that a woman I smell on you, Tib?" He gave a sly grin as he stood up, thoroughly amused with his teasing though it was clear by his forward facing ears and his slowly wagging tail that he was beyond happy to see the biggest of his brothers again.

He hadn't really expected Archie to have any kind of exuberant reaction to him. It had been a long time, but he didn't forget Archelaus' stoic expressions. He nodded in understanding when his brother told him that he had been back for a few days now. So he had just missed his arrival. Ah well, at least he was too late to the party. He almost said something about being the only one of the brothers to never leave, but he bit it back. He didn't want to get off on the wrong foot. He was just glad to have Archelaus and Vitus back. A grin cracked his lips at Archie's jab a chuckle rumbling in his chest. He had forgotten what it was like to have brothers to pick on and be picked on by. Sisters were completely different. He couldn't just walk up to Diana or Jayne and tease them like that without hurting their feelings. Surprise touched Tib's expression when Archie asked about a woman's scent on him, but he knew he shouldn't be surprised. Finch's scent was probably all over him by this point. He hadn't really considered it before his brother pointed it out. "Nothing gets past you, eh?" he asked with a smirk. "Yeah, I just got back from visiting Finch. Someone kinda likes this ugly mug, believe it or not." He chuckled and his tail wagged gently behind him. "What have you been up to? Something exciting I hope?" Speak Thought Others

It wasn't strange at all for the brute to be around family again, some part of him just felt most comfortable in their company than anyone else's- whether or not they were aware of that, he didn't care. He was just proud to be staring his brother in face and bringing a chuckle out of Tib. He smiled when he heard it, inky lips breaking the stoicness of his expression as he held himself a little taller. It wasn't a challenging tall but more of a confident and 'proud to be with you' tall. He smirked when his brother mentioned that nothing gets past him, his rubies slanting in a sly expression as he waited for the explanation that was to come. While he didn't like to gossip all too often about the private lives of others- he couldn't deny that girls were particularly fascinating so he grinned. In all honesty, he recognized that his brother was an impressive wolf to look at. He was strong, tall and uniquely marked and colored. He would be quite the catch for any woman, but Ark couldn't let his brother's ego get larger than his own now could he? He chuckled. "Nothing quite as exciting as what you've been up to, I assure you. Just wanted to see the world for awhile, is all. The world is.. incredibly boring compared to here." He gave a single laugh in the form of a exhale out of his nose, air blowing out his nostrils as his nose wrinkled and he looked up to Tib again. For a moment, his thoughts flashed a haunting memory of the face of his ex-girlfriend that had kept him away. He didn't let it bother him and pushed it away, deciding to change the topic to where he was currently. "What's all happened in Fiori in my absence? Last I knew, our brother was challenging Leo for the throne and ended up losing. I imagine a lot has happened since then, yeah? Though I see our uncle still stands strong." His last words were spoken fondly as he looked around the falls. Their uncle had protected Fiori through-out the entirety of their lives and it was honestly quite inspiring. Though inspirations hit Archelaus like a cattle-prod hit a dead cow. He couldn't imagine doing something so great in his life, himself. He liked sleeping too much. On a more serious note, all sly expression in his features seemed to fade away as his rubies shimmered in appreciation. "Thanks for taking care of our mothers, Tib. I know it hurt them when we left, thank you for being there for them."

Tiburtius chuckled a little when Archelaus told him that the world wasn’t as interesting as here. He couldn’t imagine how that was possible, but he didn’t really have the experience to combat that statement. After all, he hadn’t really strayed very far from Fiori since they moved where when they were still young. He had gone out on small bouts of exploration of course. He wouldn’t have met Finch otherwise. He was sure that was nothing compared to what his brother had done in his time away. Wandering around the lands that bordered Fiori hardly counted as real exploration. He hummed softly when his brother asked for an update on how Fiori had been since the challenge with Bacchus. He nodded when Archie mentioned how Leo was still standing strong as the alpha. He felt a similar fondness toward Leo and appreciation for what Leo had done for them so he certainly understood the sentiment. ”Well, the fallout from that challenge was a lot for Athena and Amalia to get over as I’m sure you can imagine. They handled it as well as they could I imagine, as they usually do.” He thought back to when they had been forced to find a new home when the pack in the north had been disbanded and how their mothers had just picked them all up and moved them to the east. They had always done whatever they had to in order to take care of their kids. Maybe that’s why he tried so hard to take care of them now. ”Jayne and Diana were just pups when that challenge happened, weren’t they? They’ve grown up a lot since then. Full blown young women now. It’s been so weird watching them grow… almost as weird as having half-sisters.” He snickered a little and tried to think of anything else to fill his brother in on. ”Fiori has grown a lot too. I’ve had a hard time learning all of their names lately. Oh, Leo’s wife disappeared not long after that challenge too. We still don’t know what happened to her. His kids are grown now too though. They were born shortly after our sisters were. He couldn’t think of anything else to fill him in on. Things were pretty quiet around here for a while after all while Leo recovered and spent a lot of time looking for Svetlana. Things had really just started picking back up in the last few seasons. He was a bit surprised when Archie thanked him for taking care of Athena and Amalia. He shifted self-consciously, but he smiled a little all the same. It was never something he expected or wanted praise for, but he still appreciated that Archelaus noticed. ”Don’t mention it, Archie. Honestly I just couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. I don’t have a wandering bone in my body.” He never really held it against his brothers - except for maybe Bacchus. He still hadn’t gotten over his first reunion with him and how he had behaved. Archie and Vitus weren’t like that though and they did eventually return home which he was grateful for. ”I’m glad you and Vitus are back, ugly mugs and all.” He grinned a little and chuckled, his tail wagging slowly behind him. Speak Thought Others