A festival! It as something he’d never attended, and never heard of, but something he was absolutely willing to try. Especially now; he’d fallen into a funk once he had returned home, and he itched to do something. This was the perfect opportunity, and the second he heard of it, he started to head out. He wasn’t far now; there was a path to follow that made it easy. He felt iffy going alone, but figured he’d run into the pack there; Corvus hadn’t been at his den, so Aiden figured he was either busy or already at the festival himself, because Aiden was arriving rather… late. Cause, that’s what moping did.

He paused on the shore of the mainland, looking out at the gently bobbing glowing jars. How they made those contraptions, Aiden had no idea – they were not something he thought he could make with his own paws.  They were very impressive, however, and he wondered what else they could be used to store. Herbs, maybe? To shelter them from the elements? After all, it was sheltering the fireflies from the ocean waters.

He was mostly just procrastinating. He’d heard it was quite a journey to get over to the festival, from island to island until he was at the big one, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. Slight and fast he was, but stamina and endurance was not his forte. It was something he’d need to use for this. With a sigh, he plunged into the water.
--------
Was it hours that went by? He left at mid morning, and it was still day, but he was absolutely exhausted. He was on the verge of collapse, and he had given himself many breaks; there just wasn’t much left from him. But he was there. He had arrived. Sopping wet, exhausted, and teetering on his paws, he squinted at the cloaked figure. He couldn’t even tell what it was, so thoroughly cloaked in darkness it was. He nodded quietly to the figure, and staggered away; oof, he needed a nap. But he was also hungry.

He knew fishing was a thing, so he scooted himself over to where some groups of people were. Maybe he could fish something to eat real quick. It didn’t take long for him to find what he considered a decent spot: not a lot of wolves, deeper water that hadn’t been disturbed yet from the looks of it. It’d be a good try. He wasn’t too certain what fish were even there, but he’d try anyway.

Completely still he waited, his eyes searching the water eagerly. He knew he had to be patient – he scared the fish wading in. He had to wait for them to come back. But minutes passed by and back they came. He slowly tensed up, before lunging his face into the water, just in front of a fish swimming in that direction. If he plotted right, that fish would end up in his jaws by the time they snapped together. If not… well, he was going to stay hungry.

1/10

Trying to shake himself out of the funk that he, too, had fallen into, Corvus had decided to attend this rumored festival. With so many wolves from Abaven traveling there, he decided he might as well join in on the fun... if it ended up being much fun at all. At least it was a distraction. A distraction from everything that had been going wrong - like Peggy and her kids leaving, like the absence of his own parents, and the fact that he lived so far from his best friend, and like.. feeling inadequate among all his packmates. He knew he was being melodramatic and that things weren't exactly horrible for him. His brother had recently returned home and was recovering from all he'd gone through, and he had a huge family he could depend on for.. pretty much anything. Yet, he still felt vaguely alienated from them, and somehow he knew the problem was in his own head rather than anything concrete. A soft sigh fell from his lips as he gathered loosely near some of his packmates. He hadn't expected Aiden to come at all, so he hadn't been keeping an eye out for him. The thought of a tournament of sorts was a welcome distraction for his angsty thoughts, and Corvus grasped quickly onto the thought of trying to out-fish his packmates, and whoever else was here. Hey, it actually sounded kind of fun, believe it or not! If only Ignis was here with him... He shook the slightly weird, definitely intrusive thought away as he veered toward the shore, letting his gaze flit over the wolves that had already begun to fish. Wait - was that Aiden? He felt a surge of worry assault him before he could push it away, pushing off toward his brother, picking up his pace so he could go to greet him with a gentle nudge. Their relationship wasn't quite as strong as it had been when they were kids, but Corvus didn't really expect it to be. He knew it'd take a time, for both Aiden as well as himself, to regain even a sliver of what they'd once had.. and almost as soon as he nudged his brother he worried he might've overstepped some boundary he hadn't even known about. He pulled away, assessing him tentatively. "Hey. I didn't expect - I didn't know you were coming," he explained, though he wore a happy smile at his brother's presence here. "Are you joining the tournament, or are you just hungry?" He quirked a brow, letting out a soft laugh as he stalked forward after a fish he'd seen, swiping a single paw at the water and hoping he might get lucky on his first attempt at snatching a fish from the water.

Snap! Aiden's jaws snapped shut, and bit into wet, slippery flesh. The wolf's eyes widened and the sharp intake of breath were the signs of his shock - both of which would have gone well had his head still not been underwater. He jerked his head out of the water choking and spluttering, the fish falling out of his mouth as he tried to clear himself of the water he had stupidly breathed in. The second it fell, he knew what had happened, and a choked, "No!" erupted from him, followed by a growl of annoyance, and more coughing.


He'd only just started getting it under control when he saw movement in the corner of his eye, and glanced over to see his brother right before he was given a gentle nudge. Annoyance put aside immediately, a grin immediately graced the healer's face. "Corvus," he chirruped, leaning into the touch only momentarily before Corvus pulled away. A flicker of sadness crossed his face then; had the gap widened so much?


Reflecting, he knew it had. How could it not? Gone for months; seasons, even. Caring for things he should never have seen, witnessing abuse that had been dealt repeatedly on others. It was scaring, and he wasn't the same. It had caused a divide, between him and everyone, and he was only just beginning to heal. But - the thought still hurt. Corvus pulling away still hurt, and for a brief moment, that sadness and slight hurt passed over his face.


He glanced away, back at the water. The sound was peaceful; the gentle pull at his legs comforting. It was a beautiful sight, the ocean: the sun reflected in the waves, causing the whole place to sparkle and glimmer, especially in flow with the actual waves. The waves weren't too strong either, and the sound was thereupeutic. "I didn't know about it until last minute," Aiden admitted quietly, glancing back at his brother. "I have to say, though, I wasn't a fan of the swim here," he huffed and grumbled, shaking his head.


He grinned a bit at Corvus' next statement. "How'd you guess?" he chuckled. "I'm hungry. Really hungry. I could eat an entire deer right now. Fish will suffice, y'know, if i don't try to breathe water after I catch them. That would help a ton. Though, I suppose I could participate in the competition… show them the fish before I eat them..." he mused the last part aloud, contemplating the idea. Was it worth the wait? Bleh, probably.


He glanced back down at the water, seeing if the fish had returned. He wasn't sure; with both him and Corvus in the water it had stirred it quite a bit - but there was a flash of silver, and he once more dove forward and tried to catch a fish.

2/10

Corvus had only seen the tail end of Aiden lunging forward to catch a fish, watching him choke slightly on the water as it dripped from his face. It was probably exactly how he'd look in a minute, so he merely cracked a faint smile as he leaned to nudge Aiden. The contact was short-lived - and as soon as he pulled away from his brother's touch he regretted moving away so quickly. But they were older now, fully grown, and though he wasn't one to care much what strangers thought of him.. well, cuddling up to your brother when you were a kid was much different than doing it now - especially after so much time had kept them apart. Hopefully time would help him understand what was and wasn't acceptable. Their dynamic had changed, but perhaps they could regain some of the closeness they'd once had. Corvus certainly wouldn't let his brother slip away from him completely, now that they were together again.. it was just going to take some work. That was all. Work that he was wholly committed to. "I'm sorry," he started, apologizing being his instinctive reaction. "I should've checked to see if you wanted to tag along," Corvus admitted, sounding a bit sheepish at the realization. Part of him hadn't expected Aiden to be up for it - for any of it, whether it be the trip here or the competitions or just the crowds in general. There were a lot of strangers here - didn't that make him a little uncomfortable? He knew he was being presumptuous, and in his own uncertainty surrounding what Aiden might want to do, he'd simply... decided not to mention the festival at all. He'd definitely made a mistake there. He'd made a lot of mistakes lately, truth be told. Fucking up his relationship with Aiden, though, wasn't going to be one of them - he'd make damn sure of that. He found himself cracking a slight grin at his words, nodding in agreement. "Yeah - I'd have to agree. Never was much of a swimmer," he chuckled, using a paw to swipe at the water idly, watching the way his movements disrupted the surface and sent out a cascade of ripples in every direction. "I think mom and dad's warnings about the rapids when we were kids scarred me a bit," Corvus teased lightly, tilting his head to offer Aiden a more genuine grin now. Thinking about their parents probably wasn't the best way to lighten the mood, but bringing up childhood memories wasn't so bad, right? He hoped not. At least they could focus on fishing, if nothing else. "An entire deer? I'll believe it when I see it," he teased lightly. "You might want to try to save a few fish, if you're able to contain yourself. Apparently we get tickets for showing what we caught, and there's some.. prizes or something at the end. That's what I heard," he explained. Winning didn't matter much to him, but maybe one of the prizes might be cool? Something to bring home to Abaven, at least. Shrugging, he moved to re-focus himself, moving to lunge at another fish just a few yards out.

Aiden prayed that one day this quiet awkwardness wouldn't be between them. That this void that was there would shrink and disappear, and that they'd be able to return to how they had been as puppies. They had done everything together, and were as close as one could possibly be as siblings, and he... well, he missed that closeness. He missed that belonging feeling. He missed the clear love and care they had for each other, and just about everything in their familial relationship. It was sorely lacking now, and it was a damned shame. He missed... he missed it all.

Sighing quietly, Aiden's attention was swiftly taken away from his desires as Corvus apologized. Already, he was shaking his head brusquely. "No need, brother," he said softly, leaning forward to nose Corvus in a placating and soothing gesture. "I made an impulsive decision to come. It'd only been the past... few days that the fog over me has lifted, and I don't blame you at all for not asking." After all, it was completely reasonable to assume that Aiden wouldn't want to come; he hadn't wanted to do anything lately at all. He didn't blame Corvus at all.

"Me either," he agreed with a grumble. "It's sore work. You know me, I'd rather be at home buried in plants over swimming or some sort of activity like that." This time, however, he was glad he didn't bury himself in plants. This was... nice. These interactions were nice. Seeing his brother was nice. It was all just... nice. And pleasant. He was enjoying himself already, and found himself relaxing even now. It was something that he was grateful about. "They certainly scared me!" he chirruped, mimicking his brother's action. "This water is so peaceful and tame in comparison. Maybe it's just because that's the main body of water we were always around, and it's just... not safe. At all. " The mention of their parents brought up a pang of sadness - but he shook that away gruffly, instead focusing on the joyous parts of the memories, and he found himself smiling at them.

"Well, if I had a deer, I'd show you," he retorted weakly, huffing indignantly (and in a silly manner) towards his brother. The smile remained even as Corvus guided the topic back, and he nodded "I was thinking of catching some fish, showing the guy for tickets, and then eating them if they'd let me." He paused slightly, nodding at the mention of prizes. "I remember being told about it. The guy up front told me a little, but I was hardly interesting. Something about mysterious drinks and stuff to wear and other things. Sounds interesting enough." As Corvus refocused on fish, so did Aiden, and he once more tried to lunge for the elusive fish.

6/10

Time would make things easier, wouldn't it? That was how it always worked - at least in his relatively slim life experience. Time had brought Aiden back to him, and surely it would mend their relationship.. eventually. All in due time. He would try not to dwell too much on any feeling of strain he might be feeling, as hard as it was to not hyper focus on it; he could only hope Aiden was trying to do the same. "Okay," Corvus sighed, trying to push away the worries that suddenly assaulted his mind. Maybe acting natural and going with the flow was a better plan than being hyper-sensitive to Aiden's needs. He was home, he was comfortable, and he was healing - and he'd reach out to Corvus if he needed help, right? And he'd come here on his own, which seemed like a good sign. He forced a faint grin at his words, nodding and deciding to let the topic slip away as quickly as it had arrived. "Me too," he agreed with a slight sigh, glad they could agree on one thing.  "Except.. probably patrolling or hunting rather than plants," he commented with another slow grin. Plants and healing had never interested him, though he was glad Aiden had found something he enjoyed so much - sometimes he wondered if he'd ever find that special something, something he found as much purpose in. Sometimes he seriously doubted it, even in his new position as Blackthorn - but he wasn't going to unload those worries on Aiden, not after everything he had gone through.. his brother's trauma made his own worries seem somehow completely insignificant. "At least the swim here wasn't too dangerous. Just long," he breathed a content sigh, deciding he might take a long swimming break after his trip back home. He had a feeling Aiden might have similar thoughts. "Maybe if we sleep here tonight, we'll be lucky enough to spot a deer on the way home in the morning," he added thoughtfully, grinning playfully at the thought of going on a hunt with his brother. Fishing was fun and all, but a real hunt? Had he ever even hunted with him - an honest, proper one? He couldn't remember. Sure, they'd ran around the thicket when they were kids, chasing mice and rabbits, but that wasn't quite the same..  but now they were able to bond and experience all those things they'd missed out on, and that alone filled him with a joy that was hard to describe. "If you're up for it, I mean," he added playfully, nudging his leg lightly with one of his paws. Rather than being cautious, trying to treat Aiden like he was fragile - even if he was, in a way - his voice was playful and daring, hoping to egg him on a little bit, to see if he might be up for the challenge if it presented itself.