It was interesting watching the prey behave oddly. Deep down, it terrified him. The animals near the bamboo were not acting as strangely, but he wondered how long it would be until such happened. From what he could tell, the sickness was spreading quickly. A wildfire that could not be tampered. If the risk was worth it, Akito did not think twice to dispatch any animals that portrayed symptoms. Anything from lesions to bashing their heads, they would be saved from any more torture. What hurt the most was doing it to the wolves. Admittedly far more difficult as well, but it was necessary. The more rabid, sick ones were dangerous, and keeping his home safe was important.

Spread across the wide boulder that lay close to the ground, Akito was nothing more than a shadow. Steel gaze scanning the prairie as antelope and rabbit play. Well, it wasn't really playing, but he wanted to give himself the illusion until he had rested enough to save them. He even considered a nap until another shadowed figure caught his eye. Turning to look, he sees that of his half-brother, Bjorn, looking not sick at all. A sigh of relief and a nod of his head in greeting.

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Things were rapidly declining, but still the earth turned. Björn could feel it in his bones. Ragnarök. Swelling, coming on. The tides were shifting, changing, and he'd sink his teeth in at the root. There's nothing to stop him. Everything within the boy is wild, the rot prince coming unglued by the day. Very little to keep him together, but then, doe she need to be together?

Returning to the Prairie, thinking about finding something to eat before thinking better of it. With how impacted the prey had been, is there anything safe anymore? He'd probably be on fish only for a while, just in case. Ugh. Settling beneath one of the scrub trees, Björn catches something far more interesting than antelope in his periphery.

"You're awfully far from home, brother." Brother. Half brother. Brother, in the same way Erik was. Björn wasn't going to split hairs over it. Inclining his chin, he beckons Akito closer, so he doesn't have to shout. Though virtual strangers, he knows... knows at least something of their plight. Erik had been more of a father figure than the viking king himself, after all. His why? is a silent question, hard grey gaze taking Akito in for a long moment. He seemed okay, like he'd been unscathed by the strange sickness thus far. Good. Good enough.

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coded by NachoMumma

The beckoning shout and tilt of the head to lure him over has Akito hesitating for a moment. He was not lost on some of the happenings within Hemlock. After all, he was a friend of Maki's and he was no stranger to Erik. Alas, Akito was not one to assume and would allow this interaction to draw his own conclusions.

Stretching up onto long, slim legs, he takes his time. Leisurely strolling through the shadows as if he were nothing but. The silence was his existence. Something he strived for. He would only allow those he wished to see him to notice him. If not, he could easily blend into the background without a single look in his direction.

Coming to sit beside Bjorn beneath the scrub tree, he focuses his cloudy gaze on the prairie. No prey animal was probably safe to ingest, but hunger lingered all the same. That same silence that shrouded him lingered over them for a few minutes. Companionable, perhaps even a little tense, but nothing unbearable. When ready, Akito lets his eyes flicker over to Bjorn, assessing for a moment before moving back to the grass and antelope.

"Disease is spreading. I need to eradicate it," he replies simply as if there was no argument to the statement.

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Björn looks to Akito, studying him for a moment. For how different they were, there's a certain... sameness. Creatures that are too serious, even if Björn is prone to putting that seriousness in the wrong places. Only one of the brothers is a madman in disguise. His jaw set as he scans the Prairie before them, skipping over the antelope. The prey... they're strange. They're far too strange.

"Seems like it's spread to the wolves already." Björn's tone is grave, the words sitting in the air between them. "How bad are things down south?" Curious, for Akito's sake and for the sake of his family in the Hallows. Though his father remained a bitter taste in his mouth, surely a sickness like this was the worst way to go. Björn was trying not to dwell on it, trying not to tip too much of his hand, lest feelings he couldn't give voice to bubble to the surface.

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coded by NachoMumma

A madman in disguise to one, a heathen beneath the surface to the other. Akito has always been complacent. Diligent, hard-working, dutiful, loyal, all the things that lords looked for in heirs. Which he was, but with the new brood aging that had real blood ties, would he be replaced? The thought hadn’t settled with him for awhile now, but it was something he chose not to dwell on. He would deal with it when the time came - if it ever did.

For now, he push down his emotion, his thought, his opinion, and focus on the here and now. The concern that edged around Bjorn’s gaze. Ah, is that where Vidarr had gone? To the Hallows? Clove had mentioned something and so had Maki. His ears were to the ground, not much got past him. A shadow knew all.

“Too many wolves have not utilized their intelligence to avoid it,” Akito replied, his tone grim and rumbling with agitation. How could anyone not clearly see how sick these prey animals were? The antelope spread out before them kept trying to dig their horns into the dirt before eating said dirt. Disgusting enough to make his stomach curdle. “The bamboo is safe, for now. There are signs of it around Shimmering Shore, but not as thick as up here,” he delivers the news directly, hoping it eases some of Bjorn’s concern.

“If Delphi reigns supreme and Vidarr,” he’s never once called the man father or even his own biological father the same either, “has retired to Hearthstone. What is your plan?” Akito inquires genuinely. He does care for all of his siblings - even the ones who didn’t stick around. Which in truth, was all of them, but neither had his parents either. Was he lonely?

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