The pack is making their way to the island that they will be living on. Ricin is sullen, trailing behind his brother, when a break is called for. The light blue pup decides to slip away to find a place to do his sulking in peace. Long legs carry him to a breathtaking place where land seems to have been sculpted into a perfect gully that is home to many beautiful flowers. The boy slowly walks along, crimson eyes glancing around at different flowers. Since talking with Manea and Chade, the light pup has felt a piece of him is start to heal… but doubt still lingers in his mind. Everyone in their pack is a fighter or hunter… expect for Ricin. Heaving a deep sigh, the boy, once again, inwardly curses his own inadequacies. He hates that he feels weak, that he feels like Chade has watch over him all the time.

Kicking a small pebble in the grass, another sigh escapes as the light pup moves toward a cluster of purple flowers. Ricin tries to banish the sadness that seems tied to his soul, scolding himself to not be so childish. But… he is a pup still, albeit a slightly larger, moodier-than-normal one. Everything seems so daunting, so… impossible to the large pup. He makes it the tall purple flowers and dips his head to inhale their sweet scent. There is no word for this plant, no knowledge of what it is, but Ricin finds their aroma calming. The pup lays down in front of the flower, pulling it slightly toward him so he can inhale its sweet perfume when he needs it. Crimson eyes fall closed as he sticks his nose into one of the flowers and allows the sweet, calming scent to fill his nostrils.


"Ricin"

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The concept of moving on past his mourning was still a difficult one to grasp. No matter how much time passed and how much he tried to just put his father’s death behind him it still found new ways to torment him. Everything from losing that father figure in his life to feeling as if he failed because he wasn’t able to fight off that polar bear with his dad which led to his death to having all of his confidence as a fighter and a hunter swept away… Losing Naiche was hard on its own without his thoughts spiraling out of control nearly constantly, but that didn’t stop them from doing so.

He padded slowly through the gulley, not really paying attention to his surroundings. He had good days and bad days when it came to how he felt and his outlook on the world and it seemed like today would be one of those bad days. He attempted to at least get himself interested in hunting something so he could feel productive, but he didn’t find any scents of prey animals right away so his brief and fledgling interest drifted away. Instead he was left wandering aimlessly through the grassy, plant filled gully so that he could stay away from the group long enough to say he tried.

With his attention so far away, he didn’t notice what was right in his path. He walked by a big patch of lavender, but didn’t see the younger man in his path and ended up tripping right over him. A little, surprised yelp escaped him as he tumbled forward, flopping onto the ground on the other side of the blue-hued boy with an “oof”. He blinked with surprised and started pulling himself back to his paws and shaking out his fur.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Ricin sticks his nose in the lavender flower and deeply inhales its calming aroma. It carries him away, starting the blue boy adrift in an ocean of tranquility. For so long, sadness has been his constant companion, trying to rip his soul into pieces, to shatter what tenuous hold on life the boy has. However, since joining with Manea and her band things have been looking up for the brothers and the lighter pup has found more happier moments. Yet old, ingrained thoughts are hard to dismiss and, there are times he finds himself falling into old traps. But the flower gives him some small measure of comfort in this moment and so, Ricin floats away. The blue boy has grown tall, his long legs curled under him and his head bent down to smell the flower. A gentle breeze tosses his slightly elongated mane about before dropping it back on closed eyelids.

The world around him is gone, all that is left is Ricin and the lavender plant. Something strikes into his side and crimson eyes spring open. A memory lodges into his mind, sharp and jagged, causing the pup to pull back and shrink away. The strike had not hurt, more of a surprise then anything but he starts apologizing for being in the way. His ears do not hear the surprised yelp and terrified eyes do not see the young boy that tripped over him. Instead his mother is standing over him, kicking the pup for getting in her way. A constant stream of stream of apologies continue to be mumbled out, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be in the way. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

Slowly the memory fades, the world refocusing and wide crimson eyes finally catch sight of the wolf that had hit him, a long fanged, maned wolf that doesn’t appear much older than himself. Ricin’s larger frame quakes and the pup remains on his belly, head laying on the grass in a submissive gesture. He must have done something very wrong for the golden maned wolf to hit him. Ricin’s voice is small and timid as he says, “I’m really sorry. Please don’t hit me again.”


"Ricin Dauner"

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As he was getting up and shaking out his fur he heard a tumble of words from the wolf he accidentally tripped over, apologizing to him for being in the way. His brows pulled together with confusion as he turned to face the other boy, but quickly realized with how the other's ruby eyes weren't quite focused on him, at least not at first. He didn't know what was going on in the stranger's head, but it really had nothing to do about being tripped over. Maybe that's what had triggered it, but he didn't feel like this boy was really apologizing to him. He didn't think they were really all that different in age, at least from what he could tell, but he did think that the blue-hued pup was younger than him even though the younger boy was probably taller than him. He knew from experience though that age didn't really really mean anything when it came to how much trauma someone had gone though.

"Hey, it's alright," he said with a frown as the other boy practically begged to not be hit again. Arcturus settled down onto his stomach across from him, hoping maybe that would make him less intimidating—even though he never really felt all that intimidating anyway. He supposed his fangs and mane made him look bigger and scarier than he really was. "I'm not gonna hit you. I'm sorry for tripping over you, I wasn't paying attention." He tried to give the other boy a moment to collect himself and calm down before he added, "I'm Arcturus. Are you okay? What's your name?"

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Ricin doesn’t see the golden maned boy. Not at first. Crimson eyes are glazed over as the blue pup fights the flames of memory. His mother towers over him, his small, pitiful body curled into a tight ball as she spits vile words at him and threatens to strike him again. The Gully doesn’t exist anymore, instead he is back in the den, trying to survive. A sound tickles his ear, worming its way into his fear frozen brain. It takes a moment for the clouds of memory lift but, when he sees the golden wolf, he pleads with golden maned boy not to hit him again. The wolf’s reaction shocks Ricin, causing guilt to twist in his gut. Yet, the smaller boy lays on his stomach across from him speaks gently to him. Brows furrow as Ricin to understand why the golden maned wolf is being nice to him. When the other wolf promises not to hit him and tell the blue pup he is sorry, Ricin feels lost for words.

And then the golden maned boy offers his name and asks for the scared pup’s. Ricin looks Arcturus up and down, trying to piece together why he isn’t mad at him. Surely it is Ricin’s fault for being in the way. Still, the blue pup lifts his head slightly off the ground to says, “My name’s Ricin.” Ruby gaze darts around as he lays his head back down, wondering if the reason Arcturus is so nice is because he isn’t real. After a moment, Ricin makes a decision and lifts his head a little to scoot his body toward the golden maned wolf. He stops, fearful eyes watching to see if Arcturus is going to move away from him. He hopes this is real and not one of the many fantasies he would dream up to escape his awful world back in the den. The grass feels real, the breeze and sun as well. Still… he has to be certain.

Ricin grows a little bolder and scoots closer until he is within reach of one of boy’s paws. Eyes dart to Arcturus’s face before he whispers, “Real?” and timidly reaches a paw out toward the boy to touch him. The solidness of the wolf in front of him eases the panic that Ricin didn’t realize had flared up. He lets his paw linger for a moment, drinking in the reality of the situation before moving to pull his paw away. Lifting his head a little more, Ricin says, “I’m sorry. Bad memories seem to… follow me.” He pulls in a breath before letting out a soft, humorless chuckle. After a moment, Ricin asks, “You okay Arcturus? I mean… I’m not exactly hard to miss.” A small smile ticks his mouth up as he adds, “Something on your mind?” Curiosity has the pup’s head tilting as he meets Arcturus’s gaze.



"Ricin Dauner"

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Once the other boy replied, giving him his name, Arc nodded approvingly and replied, "Good. Nice to meet you, Ricin." The larger boy still didn't really seem to be fully aware of his surroundings just yet, but Arcturus was patient as he laid there waiting for the boy to reorient himself. He wasn't sure how he kept stumbling upon these wolves that seemed to need help, at least from his perception of them, but this was the second time now that he randomly found someone that seemed to have something going on or some issue that needed resolving. This time though Ricin seemed physically okay—well fed and smelling of a pack so Arc knew he wasn't alone—but mentally there was something going on.

Arc watched Ricin curiously as he shifted closer to him till they were close enough to touch and raised a brow at his one word question, not really understanding at first until Ricin reached out to touch his paw as if to make sure he was actually there. Arc gave him a little, reassuring smile and lifted his opposite paw to gently pat Ricin's a few times. "Yeah, I'm real," he assured him. They stayed like that for a couple moments and Arcturus could see Ricin visibly relax a bit more until eventually he pulled away his paw again. "It's alright, no need to apologize," he replied when Ricin apologized again, adding, "I know that feeling." He couldn't count how many days he had just laid in bed, replaying his father's death over and over in his head, picking it apart and wondering how he could have done anything differently to prevent it from happening. His dreams were still more often nightmares even though so much time had passed. He often wondered what it would actually take to get himself to move past it, but nothing really seemed to help so he could sympathize with the younger boy.

He refocused his gaze on Ricin when the boy spoke, asking him if he was okay and citing the fact that he was pretty hard to miss. Arc gave a soft chuckle at that. He supposed it should have been pretty hard to miss the very blue pup that was very nearly not a pup any more, but somehow he had managed. "Yeah... you could say that," he replied with a little shrug when asked if something was on his mind, glancing away awkwardly. He didn't know if talking to a stranger about his problems was really the way to go, but he didn't guess there was any harm in it either. Maybe it was even better to talk to a stranger that he didn't even know if he'd see again.

"I just... My dad was killed awhile back and it's still hard, you know?" he finally replied after a moment, his ears flicking back. He could make himself look back up at Ricin again, instead looking down at his paws while his claws picked at the grass under them. "I was just thinking about him and how he died and all that when I stumbled into you so... yeah, I had some stuff on my mind."

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Ricin’s ruby gaze rests on the golden maned boy and he watches Arcturus’s features as the other boy lays there. The soft chuckle that the blue pup’s question gets, has a lopsided grin making an appearance on dark blue lips, but it quickly falls away as the golden wolf speaks. The small shrug of dark shoulders has Ricin furrowing his brows and the way the golden boy looks away awkwardly lets the blue pup know that Arc is going through something very personal. He shifts his paws on the grass, a sudden feeling of guilt washing over Ricin as he continues to watch Arc. Should he push the golden boy? Try to pry out what is bothering him?

Thankfully, the blue pup doesn’t have to do anything as the golden maned boy freely offers his thoughts, speaking of how his father was killed. A knowing look comes into Ricin’s gaze and dips his head in understanding. If there was any wolf who knows the pain the losing a parent, it is him. Crimson eyes are filled with sympathy as he watches Arcturus’s face, seeing the small signs of a deep, consuming sadness. The frown that tugs golden lips down, the way he keeps his eyes diverted… Ricin understands it all. Does Arc blame himself for his father’s death? Hmm. A question for later.

Arcturus picks at the grass as speaks of thinking about his father and Ricin replaces his paw on top of Arc’s. The touch is instinctive, an overwhelming need to comfort the sad boy taking hold of the pup. He wonders if this fate, like Manea told him about. Was he here today to try and help Arcturus? He wouldn’t put it past fate. Ruby gaze tries to capture blue eyes and Ricin offers Arc a small, sad smile. Gently, he says, “I am really sorry Arcturus. I… know what it is like to lose a father. It is extremely painful. Will you tell about him? He must have been a great dad if you miss him so much.” Ricin understands that pain, knows the yearning to see his father’s features once more just to say goodbye.

Laying in front of Arc, Ricin keeps his paw on Arc’s, trying to give him a grounding presence with the simple, supportive gesture.


"Ricin Dauner"

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