Aesir stretched, groaning until several glorious pops spread up along his spine and shoulders, and rounded the motion out with a sigh. It was now summer, or at least he was pretty sure it was summer, but the climate seemed to believe otherwise. At best he would call it a dreary ash-coated spring. The prey was sparse and flighty, wolves walked the lands with a gaunt, fearful look in their eye, and he spent his every waking moment looking over his shoulder. Aesir was eagerly hoping to find a familiar face, and... somewhat worried about the consequences that would befall him when he finally did. It had been a long time since he last found himself in familiar territory. Even though he could not recall ever being here specifically he knew he was at least back in Boreas. The realm had changed significantly in his seasons away, due in large part to the damned volcano that had decided to spill its guts out over the countryside. Plants had withered, creatures had fled, and the closer he drew to Mt. Volkan the more radically altered his surroundings seemed to have become. It was hard to get his bearings. He had left this realm for reasons that he was still trying to process. Once he'd discovered that his brothers had disappeared Aesir feared the worst. They had always stuck by one another. Even if one wandered afield for a short time they always came back. Always. The weight of the curse hanging over them generated far too much fear and worry to allow any alternatives. The idea that they might see one another for the last time, never knowing that it would be the last time, and as young as they were... Well, suffice to say it had given the antlered male his share of nightmares. When he'd been waylaid in his search, forced afield for so much longer than he'd ever anticipated he began to wonder. Would it be him? The sibling who vanished one day and just never returned? In the end, despite sickness and injury, he found his way home at last. He prayed to the very gods he despised that he would find Halvar and Kvasir waiting for him. He prayed too that they would do so before Valkyrie. As certain as he was that his brothers might very well bite off an ear, he felt no shred of doubt that Valk might very well flay them all, so there would be strength in numbers. He gulped as a series of gruesome images flit past behind eyes. Yeah... Mission: find brothers, then find Valk... Hopefully in that order. "Aesir Speaks" "Aesir Listens" Aesir Thinks

Valkyrie was scouting ahead for places to take the band. She had yet to decide where to go next but it made sense to go north in summer. Take advantage of that section's nicest season before moving somewhere temperate for the cooler months. Of course that might put her at odds with Acere, but what was a little blood among friends? Speaking of friends...

Valkyrie reared back with a gasp as her eyes settled on the familiar figure. It had been a really long time since she'd seen him. After pledging himself to the band Aesir had up and disappeared, and then been quickly followed by both of his brothers. In the end all but one of her friends had left her and though she hadn't spoken to anyone about this it had left her bitter and hurt.

For a moment as she looked at him Valkyrie was the picture of vulnerability. She felt a mix of relief and defenselessness. "Aesir?" she said in a small voice. Valkyrie almost couldn't believe her eyes. Why his appearance left her feeling exposed was a mystery to her. Perhaps it was because she hadn't had time to prepare. Perhaps she was just grateful he was alive. Whatever the reason, that feeling didn't last long.

In an instant her relief was burned up in a flood of white hot fury. She was Mount Volkan and she was about to burn him alive. Valkyrie snarled at him, her expression crazed as she sent spittle flying, "Raggeit!" Oh he was going to get it. She was going to ribbon him and strew his parts all over the prairie. Valkyrie launched herself at him. "Bastarður!" The force of her shout was enough to leave her throat raw. Had she not been so focused on maiming him she would have been forced to stop and retch.

Putting all of her weight behind the action, Valkyrie swung out with her left forepaw. Her aim was to strike Aesir across the right side of his face and shred his cheek with her claws. If her aim was true her claws would start at the base of his ear and plow down towards the corner of his mouth leaving four open divots in their wake.

OOC: hover for translation

Well. Things never really went the way he planned, did they? As a general rule if Aesir ever expected anything he had already well and truly fucked himself. Honestly, he should have known. A quiet voice, though he couldn't exactly call it 'small' sounded over his shoulder. A chill shivered down his spine. No. No, no, no, wait. Wait. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He turned, sending a hesitant glance over his shoulder. There she was. Earthen pelt, distinctive markings, a face he had known since childhood and not one easily mistaken. Shit. "Raggeit!" she shouted, and he knew he was in for it. He had always known. This was not unexpected, though still very much feared. Sure, they had sparred as pups but Aesir was no fool. Valk could turn him inside out seven different ways, flay him with an artistic touch, and then do it again but with feeling. He was fucked. "Bastarður!" He yelped. It was high pitched, far higher a pitch than he would ever admit to after the fact (if he even survived this reunion,) but in the moment undeniable. "Wait! Shit, fuck, wait!" She flung herself at him. With any other wolf, any other wolf, Aesir would have reared on his hind legs and even if he knew his demise was imminent, honor demanded that he lay his life down fighting. Friend or foe, he would not roll over easily. Any other wolf but this one. Her forepaw struck his face and he took the blow. Razor sharp claws dug deep into the flesh from ear to jaw, slicing through like fangs biting through a juicy haunch. He yelped, even before he registered the ringing pain from the force behind the blow. Aesir toppled sideways and let his body fall. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Gods, wail on me all you like, but- OUCH! Sprits above, woman, if you kill me before you get your answers- OW! GODS, have mercy! Where is the satisfaction in this?" She could damn well kill him for all he cared. As far as Aesir figured he deserved it. He had deserted his band. The only family he'd had since being cast out from his own, and one known so briefly. One that had let him in, and he might as well have spit on them as he turned his back, and for what? Itchy paws? He would take the beating. It was honorable for Valkyrie to extract this penance from him. He lay prostrate before her, belting out whatever excuse might stay her until he could just fucking explain. At least this way, if this was to be his end, it would be no mystery to his brothers. They had grown up with the fiery female, and would doubtless understand. Knowing her, it was a miracle that any had survived for as long as they had. "Aesir Speaks" "Aesir Listens" Aesir Thinks

The feel of his skin rending under her claws was so very satisfying. Satisfying too was his girlish squalling. Aesir was trying to tell her something but Valkyrie wasn't listening. Her need for vengeance had yet to be sated and if she was going to calm and become reasonable anytime soon first her wrath needed to be vented. Aesir had left when her band was in its infancy and she had been crushed. Now it seemed only fair that he hurt like she had and while she couldn't give him the emotional pain she'd felt at being abandoned by her so called friends, she could give him a physical approximation.

Aesir wilted before her so naturally she pounced, aiming to loom over him like a thunderhead. In all honesty he was in luck. Fate was on his side because for the first time in a long time she had left her skull mask off for the day. That never happened; she always carried it with her for strength but today for some reason she had opted to leave it. When she was done with him Aesir needed to run off and thank whoever was looking out for him because had she been wearing it, her fury would have known no bounds and she would have torn into him backed by the spirit of the bear.

Finally she roared back in barely intelligible English, "I don't want your sorry!" Valkyrie had worked hard to soften her accent so that the wolves here could better understand her, but in her fury she couldn't be bothered to consider how to properly form her consonants. She didn't particularly care if he understood her, either. "And," she growled as she stabbed at his chest with a paw. "There is nothing but satisfaction in this for me. You are a spineless, traitorous coward." She swung a hind paw in the general direction of his testicles to drive home the point "Ergi!" Kick. "Nīþ!" Kick. "You have no honor and you will wear your shame on your face for all to see!" Valkyrie swung for the left side of his face then, meaning to flay the skin as she had the right side.

She slipped away from him, backing up slowly with her furious gaze still fixed on his face. Valkyrie hadn't decided if she was done with him but for the moment at least she was satisfied. Her chest heaved with exertion and her breath left her in audible, angry huffs. What he did next would determine her next move. For now she could think of nothing else to say. She had said her piece and told him exactly what she thought of him. The ball was in his court. Hopefully he had the wisdom to tread carefully.

Aesir wondered if being bowled over by a sow bear defending her cubs would feel quite so painful as this. It felt as though he was being flayed seven different ways, but even so it was her words that hurt the most. He was a coward, he was shameful, he was a disgrace. It was a hard place he'd found himself in, and not just because the fury of the vengeful gods seemed to be taking out their wrath on his poor mortal frame. It was hard because even knowing the disgrace, the dishonor... He would do it all again. He would suffer any punishment for the sake of his only kin. The only kin he'd ever truly loved. His brothers. Aesir hoped he'd at least be able to ask about them before Valk decided to tear out his throat. He truly was cursed, he was as sure of it now as he had been as a pup, trying to ignore the whispers cast behind his back. Never to know love, or family, or peace. Blow after blow fell and he took them all, almost glad for them, because it felt like what he deserved. Aesir wallowed in his weakness. Ergi. Nīþ. It suited him. When the blows stalled it took his befuddled, likely concussed mind a moment to process. Was this the end of the battle or the end of him? Either way, he wheezed out, "My brothers.. My kin. I was looking for them." He took in a gasping breath, trying to gather his wind. He belatedly registered a hearty blow to his balls, lost in the mix of it but all too evident after the fact. "They vanished. Probably dead now. I had to know. Never found 'em, so I came back." The world was spinning and he didn't know what else to say. Couldn't find the words to tell her that he'd been sick, been hurt. He doubted it would mean much, in the scheme of things. All he'd ever loved... his brothers. Taken from him now, through death or fate or a curse or whatever. There wasn't anything left for him anyhow. He drew in another wet, wavering breath. "Wouldn't have left if," another gasping inhale. "If they had stayed. I am sorry, Valk. I didn't want to. But I couldn't abandon my brothers." They were all he had left. If this was to be the end of him, Aesir knew that somehow, somewhere far away, the rest of his blood would rejoice. His grandfather's sins atoned for at long last. He didn't want to die but if Valk decided to take his life it was her right. He had sworn himself to her and betrayed that trust. It was their way. "Do what you must. I didn't come back to these lands to be coddled." A gasp. "I never meant to betray your trust. I am sorry. Do what you will." He closed his eyes, and waited. "Aesir Speaks" "Aesir Listens" Aesir Thinks

A low growl left Valkyrie's lips in an unbroken stream as Aesir tried to explain himself. His excuse wasn't good enough. Valkyrie appreciated how tightly blood bound relatives together, but that didn't open the door for Aesir to break an oath without so much as a word. She would have let him leave if he had asked. Instead he had broken a vow; a thing so intertwined with honor so as to be inseparable.

She stopped growling long enough to coldly say, "What, pray tell, was so important, so time sensitive that you couldn't come to me? Couldn't even howl to let me know? And do not say 'family' unless their lives were at stake in that moment." Valkyrie shook her head at him. Her chin quivered with rage as she fought the urge to bare her fangs at him. "I trusted you. I accepted your oath and I put my faith in you. You are my friend and yet even with all of that you couldn't extent to me a simply courtesy?" She hadn't known if he was dead or what. That mystery could have been with her until the end of her days. "If you could not do this simple thing for me, your friend and leader, how can I believe a word you say now? Does not cowardice walk abreast with dishonesty?"

Valkyrie stepped back further and lifted her chin in a dismissive gesture. "I can only assume those feelings were not shared and that you will say and do anything to avoid losing your life now." At one time or another he had known her. Perhaps he was using that knowledge to play on her weakness now by pretending to lay his life at her paws. "But I am not going to kill you today, Aesir. And it is not my place to forgive you. I cannot absolve you of your shame, either."

"Because we," she almost said the word 'are' again but caught herself, "were friends I will give you a chance. The band currently resides in Sweetgrass Basin. There will come a day when I call for you to answer for your crime. If you come perhaps you will find redemption. If you do not then you will be niðingr and even the gods will forsake you." He may have thought himself cursed now, but the loss of honor was a far graver thing in Valkyrie's opinion. She couldn't think of a worst fate.

-exit-