His paws crunched softly across the frosty ground as Meriadoc made his way to Valhalla’s border.  Once at its edge he stopped to get a feel of it. His eyes roved the timeless landscape and compared it to what he could recall of his boyhood. It felt like ages since he’d last stood here. How long had he been gone? How many seasons? Long enough for his children to nearly reach their teens. Long enough for him to have children. He wondered how things were with his siblings. Were they well? Had they families of their own? So much had happened in his time away that anything seemed possible.

Meriadoc saw the Valhallan landscape with new eyes. The thick grasses subdued by winter. The silly wall marring the land’s wild visage like an ugly scar. Like a memory plucked straight from his mind the wind still whistled relentless across the plains. To stand there and look in like a stranger was humbling.

Were any of his siblings still here? Artur in particular he wondered about. His brother’s anger and his dreams had seemed certain to take him elsewhere. Cairo certainly would have stayed, he was just like that, but Meri wasn’t sure about their sisters. There was only one way to find out.

In a voice he wouldn’t have faulted them for not recognizing, Meriadoc howled for his siblings.

The gold and white ball of fur that streaked down the top of the wall probably vould have passed as a large startled cat that threw itself at the ground near him, stumbled, caught itself on its chin on the ground before managing to flail back upright, and then threw itself bodily against his chest, but the gold and white blur resolved itself into Viviane when she slammed into him, forelegs reaching around his shoulders and forehead pressed against his neck as she clung to him. Tears that had already started when she'd heard his voice quickly wet his fur as she sobbed with the sudden release of pent up fear. "Geoffrey I missed you so much I thought you'd died in the volcano or you'd gotten hurt somewhere and it was my fault that you were still out there because I kept it secret where you were and I didn't know what to dooooo," was all said in one quick, gulping breath and trailed off into a sob. She had been on sentry duty when she heard that faintly familiar call, now so grown up she hardly recognized it. As soon as she had she had left her sentry post without a second thought, because what was duty next to her brother's return from the grave? She hadn't even had time to notice the new scars or anything as she had flung herself on him, and now with her face pressed into him she still couldn't, but happily breathed in his scent which was... different, but still undeniably Geoffrey.

Artur lifted his head from his hunt as a voice called from the border of Valhalla. It was a voice he had been listening for for a very long time, but at first his only reaction was the very faintest sigh of relief. He, after all, had been the one to put the idea into Geoffrey's head to go to Abaven for training. He had been the reason he was over there when the volcano had erupted, and when his younger brother had suddenly vanished, well. That was on Artur. Yes, Geoffrey had made his own decisions, but Artur had led him there, and had failed to protect him. So hearing Geoffrey's voice, so adult now in its timbre that it was almost startling, lifted a troubling burden from his shoulders. His brother wasn't dead. Good.

He came up from behind Geoffrey - because he hadn't been in Valhalla's territory - just in time to see Viviane careen off the wall. She was lucky she hadn't broken her silly neck. He gave a disapproving shake of his head and another sigh, and came up to where he could see them as she tackled Geoffrey.

He was startled by how different his baby brother looked.

It wasn't just the voice, or the scent of his maturity, or the way he held himself differently in the seconds before Viviane's assault. Scars creased the fur in his legs, and mangled his ear and face, clearly the work of fangs, and not from the volcano. Fury roared to life in him instantly at the unsubtle signs that someone had tried to take Geoffrey's life, his brother's life. Rather than speak through a throat clutched with rage, he stood back to watch his siblings silently from a distance.

Caelia couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen Geoffrey. He'd been gone long before she really reached adulthood - her most vivid memories of him had begun to fade with time, though she was certain she'd been a child in them. Hearing his call was surprising, though mostly concerning despite the lack of alarm evident in his voice, which was quite a bit deeper than she remembered it. This wasn't the Geoffrey she remembered, playing with bugs and mud, and she wasn't quite sure how to feel about his return. Even Artur had grown distant, and he'd been here the entire time, despite his occasional adventures away from home. Geoffrey was little more than a stranger to her now, though that didn't mean she wasn't glad to hear of his return.

She was slower to respond to his call than both Viviane and Artur, apparently. As she drew closer she saw the form of Vivian barrelling off the wall, as well as Artur watching on, not looking terribly happy at her dive. Slowly she drew closer to the three of them, not moving half as quickly as Viviane was, seeming to match Artur's slower stride. He looked different, not in just that he was older, but that he was fairly heavily scarred. Caelia didn't react much at first, approaching slowly and watching between slightly narrowed eyes. "Brother," she greeted him simply. Caelia had never been quick to show emotion anyway, and she was even more cautious in putting them on display when she herself didn't know exactly what she was feeling yet. Though confused, she was grateful he had returned. Part of her hurt that he had left without telling her way - had any of the others known of his leaving? - but at the same time she felt protective over him, feeling angry that someone had mauled him badly enough to leave scars. But mostly she just plain didn't know how to feel, or whether she should be mirroring Viviane's excitement.

His brother’s voice had almost faded in his memory. But a brother’s heart always knew. He was swift in arriving, but his littermates had beaten him by a hair. He did arrive in time to catch Viviane’s words… which stopped him short for half a stride before he shrugged it off for now and barreled the last few strides and aimed to rear and hug his younger brother – and consequentially Viviane – in his forelegs. His head tucked with an involuntary wince as his whole body protested, but he’d gotten good at pushing through the aches and pains. Or, maybe they were finally beginning to improve. He stepped back after several moments of just breathing his brother’s scent in… and noting that his little brother didn’t smell like he’d been alone. A lopsided, misty-eyed grin parted his jaws before he coughed and cleared his throat. “You have no idea how worried we’ve been. Or maybe you do but... It's so good to see you alive.” His eyes flicked to Viviane questioningly, though he wasn’t about to push on anything. Not right now when they hadn’t seen their brother in so long. His eyes fell on the scars. Those weren’t a spar that got a little too rough. Not even a ‘I’ll fucking show you!’ kind of scars. Those were ‘You got lucky, because I was trying to kill you’ scars. His hackles bristled slightly as he studied them, frowning. “Who’d you tangle with, and can I help tear them to shreds?” There were still so many questions that needed answered. But he settled for addressing the possibly threats first. What if the bastards came after Geo? Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Meriadoc didn't have to wait long. He lit up when Viviane came into view, his joy turning to mirth at the comical display. Just as quickly he was reduced to a humbled puddle of sorrow as his sister began to cry. Her words hit him harder than her leap into his chest. He drew a shaky breath and had just enough time to throw a paw around her shoulders before Cairo wrapped them both in a hug. It was the emotional weight, not the physical, that took him to the ground. Meriadoc's legs buckled and he slumped forward, possibly bringing all three to the ground depending on how much of their balance rested on his neck. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into Viviane's fur.

Wordlessly he sought out first Artur's gaze, then Caelia's. His expression was distressed and pleading. He felt awful for being gone so long. The distance between them had made home feel like a distant dream. At the time his circumstances had demanded his full attention and it had been easy to shelve his thoughts of Valhalla and all who resided there. But now he was being presented with the fallout from his absence and he realized there was no way to make up for what he had done. At the time it hadn't felt like he had much of a choice but he supposed that wasn't quite true.

To all of them, he said, "I wanted to come home sooner, I just...couldn't. It was one thing after another. There was always something that made staying..." He trailed off, unable to fully articulate his thoughts on the matter. After the attack he'd spent countless weeks healing. Infection after infection had made his progress slow and painful. He'd passed most of that time sleeping. The band was in perpetual motion so he'd fall asleep in one place and then wake in another with only vague memories of the sled moving to mark the passage of time. After that it had been about first Delilah and then the pups. Life had been busy causing time to slip by unnoticed.

A faint humorless smile touched his lips as he addressed Cairo's question. "Slavers. I didn't know it at the time but soft momma's boys are easy pickings." The smile faded. "But don't worry about them too much. They are far from here and much too busy fighting at home to venture abroad. At least for awhile."

Viviane barely noticed when she was enfolded by Cairo, though when Geoffrey folded to the ground she clung harder, tucking her tiny face into his chest and sobbing. As Geoffrey began to speak, she forced herself to silence her sobs, though the tears still flowed from her tightly closed eyes. Even after Cairo eased back, she clung to Geoffrey, until Cairo's words made her eyes open wide and she drew back to study Geoffrey as she hadn't before. Oh no, who would have done something like that? Her face showed every bit of her empathy and horror that someone would have done something so awful. Geoffrey wasn't like Cairo or Artur or Caelia. He wasn't a fighter, he wouldn't have gone looking for a fight or anything. When Geoffrey told them who it was, her eyes went even wider and she gave a soft gasp. Slavers? Slavers had taken him? "Oh no, Geoffrey," she said sorrowfully, her green eyes studying his scars in concern, and lifting one delicate paw to gently brush where they trailed down his cheek. "You've been through so much. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." It broke her heart to know that he'd gone through so much pain alone, without his family there to give him comfort as he healed, to save him from the slavers. How long had he been at their mercy before he'd been able to escape? She tucked herself back against his chest, falling silent with the ache in her chest.

Artur stood silently as Cairo enfolded Viv and Geoffrey into a hug, taking the opportunity of their distraction with one another to wrestling his fury back under control, and drifted closer. Geoffrey met his gaze over their siblings, and Artur made the effort to soften his expression. He wasn't sure how successful he was - "soft" wasn't something he was good at expressing. But he made the effort anyway, and gave him a nod. He wouldn't judge his brother for having taken the opportunity to stay away from Valhalla. It hadn't been much more than a year since Artur had first been unable to find him, and a year could pass nearly unnoticed when you were caught up in just surviving. "Slavers," he repeated flatly. He let a sharp breath out through his nose, hot gaze staring off into the direction of Abaven, where he'd left his brother. If he'd checked on Geoffrey more often this wouldn't have happened. He'd have been there to prevent his kidnapping, either through the presence of a fighter convincing them to seek prey elsewhere or by fighting them off, because he sure as hell wouldn't have let them lay a fang on his brother. And now Geoffrey was maimed, and had lost a year of his life at the mercy of slavers. He brought his gaze back to Geoffrey, seeking to meet his gaze again, an unspoken apology in his eyes and face. He should have been there. He should have looked harder when he'd gone missing. Fuck. He was sorry and he couldn't bring himself to express that here, in front of their siblings. Instead he looked down at his paws, furious at himself and at these slavers who were so far out of reach. "How did you escape them?" he asked quietly. This was all very surreal, to see his gentle brother in this light.

Caelia felt even more at a loss for words with each second that passed. Almost as soon as she arrived, Cairo was barreling in past her, moving to embrace both Geoffrey as well as Viviane. Her gaze remained on him, curious but apprehensive nonetheless. Perhaps unlike the outward anger of Cairo, her own anger was quieter and calculated, more like Artur's. Whoever had done this to their sweet brother would pay, if they ever knew who. And she doubted they ever would, given how Geoffrey spoke of them. They were slavers, far from here, and by the sounds of it unlikely to ever find their way here. Caelia could only hope that was true, but at least Geoffrey was safe here, much safer than he had been away from home - she didn't doubt that for a second.

Unlike Viviane, Caelia didn't feel the need to apologize. He had left, he hadn't been stolen away. Though it was hard to feel angry with him for it, and while she didn't exactly blame him for it, she wasn't going to apologize either for not protecting him. He should've been here, safe, with his family. She felt her fur bristle at the thought. "I'm glad you're home," she said simply, though quickly fell silent again and let the rest of them do the talking - they were far more suited for it than she was, anyway.

Cairo listened as Geo spoke, glint in his eye as he described what had happened. It wasn’t seriously detailed, and there were definitely things left out. He leaned to push his nose into his brother’s shoulder breathing in again. Geo had been the one he was closest to growing up when it came to brothers. His head tilted as he breathed in again. “You’re not alone, I take it?” He had no idea exactly who those extra scents were. They were all two years old, so children were way off the radar of possibilities, especially for his brother. The scents were similar, but maybe Geo had found more family, like he had with Ulric. His eyes were all for Geo at the moment, not really registering Caelia's reserved nature. Besides, Cae was always reserved until you got her loosened up enough. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Viviane's reaction brought a gentle, humorless smile to Meriadoc's lips. He reached up to touch the paw she placed on his cheek. "It's okay." He didn't mean it was okay she hadn't been there; the blame for that rested solely on his shoulders. It meant it as more of a 'everything is okay' kind of way. His fight with the slavers had been little more than a blip in his journey. A life changing catalyst, sure, but it had been over in minutes and then the real adventure had begun. At the time it had been terrifying and he'd lived for weeks in shock as he tried to process what had happened - what was happening, in the case of his injuries - but in time he'd come to accept that it had been a necessary step to get him where he was.

To Artur, he said, "The short answer is that I didn't. I didn't stand a chance." Meriadoc wasn't saddened by this memory. He didn't look back on it with anxiety or embarrassment. It was just a story to tell and his acceptance of that showed on his face. "This big guy had me down on the ground, one paw on my face, rubbing this," he motioned to the scar on his face, "in the dirt. Just having a grand old time, right? I'm thinking this is it, I'm dead, and then there's this terrible hollering coming from all around us. Suddenly there's fighting everywhere. The guy on me is gone, his buddies are gone, it's just chaos and I didn't know what the hell was happening." Worrying about stressing Viviane further, Meriadoc carefully omitted the parts about thinking his eye was gone and not being able to get up and run.

"Turns out there's this band that likes to fuck with the Reavers just as a matter of principle I suppose. They heard the commotion and came running." He glanced around at his siblings, his expression earnest. Their faces were a mix of worry and anger, and if there was one thing he wanted to stress to them it was that he was okay. More than okay, actually, as he had come out the victor in the end. Meriadoc did grow serious as he said, "Not gonna lie, they messed me up really good. Took a long time for this to heal." He pointed to his face again and chose to leave out the part about the repeated infections and the weeks of fearing for his eye.

Cairo asked a question and earned the first warm smile from Meriadoc since he'd started speaking. "You're right I'm not which brings me to the much happier part of my story. The healer who took care of me? Her name was Delilah. And her and I..." Oh how to say this without knocking them over. He grinned and then said quietly, "Had a litter together."

Perhaps Cairo noticed something unusual about Geoffrey's scent, but Caelia didn't. Perhaps she was standing too far from the others to really be made aware of it. Either way, his question made her head tilt, ears flicking curiously as she awaited Geoffrey's answer. He wasn't alone? Had he brought someone back with him? She figured it'd only be natural he might find a companion during his time away from his family, but... she certainly didn't expect what he was about to say.

He explained a little  more about what he'd been through, but what really took the wind out of her sails was his admission that he'd had kids. And he just thought now to come home? Apparently that was what he'd meant when he said things had kept coming up. But kids didn't just appear out of the blue. Surely he'd known the this Delilah had been pregnant? And he'd thought it wise to stay with a band who liked to 'fuck' with slavers? If her expression had been hard to read before, it was much less so now as a disapproving scowl touched her lips. Had he not tried to convince Delilah to come here with him, long before his children had been born? Surely that would've been safer, and no doubt wiser, than living with a band of daredevils.

Interesting. Deciding she didn't have much more to say, or ask, regrading his arrival - and not bothering to stay and see what her siblings thought of this whole thing - Caelia made to leave. She'd said what she had to say, and though she was happy to see him here, she wasn't about to stick around and celebrate what she felt what his idiocy.

-exit Caelia-

It seemed that Geoffrey's luck had turned a complete 180 after being attacked, because he'd been rescued by a band of wolves who were already familiar with the slavers. Interest kindled in Artur, bringing back his old ambitions for a band of his own, ambitions that had been set by the wayside when he'd thought Geoffrey might be dead. He'd been the only one Artur had ever confessed his plans to, and with him gone, it just hadn't seemed like a priority. He'd had sisters to protect, a brother to find... but now that brother had returned and would surely be full of ideas of how to efficiently lead a band.

All that train of thought came to a halt and his head shot up, blue eyes latching onto Geoffrey with intense incredulity. He had pups? They had to be pretty young, yet, so he must have brought the mother to nurse them. Yet he didn't, at cursory examination, smell at all like the milk-smell of someone who spent a great deal of time around pups so... surely he hadn't left them with the mother. They were Adravendi pups, true-blooded Adravendi, and his nieces or nephews, and frankly it didn't seem like Geoffrey to have left behind his own children even aside from all of that.

The news rocked him back onto his hindquarters as though at a blow, but his expression faded to nothing as he sifted through the possibilities. Movement at his peripherals showed Caelia leaving, her own face set in clearly disapproving lines, and he watched her for a moment, making no effort to go after her. He couldn't say what thoughts were going through her mind, but he'd not have thought that the idea of their family growing in strength would have been so displeasing to her. Whatever it was, she would need to work through it on her own. "Will you bring them here to raise them?" was all he said to his brother, though.