Broken. That's a good way to put how he was feeling. The tusked boy had been through it all, the rise of a true love, running away for the thrill of adventure, only for her untimely death to bring the reality crashing down upon his shoulders. Rexx wondered what had gone so wrong in his life for him to deserve any of this - memories of the fight with his brother played in an endless, torturous loop in his mind; the screaming, the rage, the fracture of his tusk, the fracture of a family bond once so strongly carved in flesh and blood. Was Scald still here? Did he still hate him? But without Rheum, there was nowhere else he could see himself returning. And eventually, every road he seemed to travel lead towards the familiar scent of home. Lingering at the borders of the Raiders, Rexx hesitated a moment before tipping back his head and calling for someone - but in particular, he wished to see his father. To apologize for leaving. To ask him to take him back. And if Scald came by, too..well. It was bound to happen. They needed to talk, too. His purple gaze traced the sands of the shore, glancing at the stranger artifacts that made up the new territory of the pack. Strange place. Would take some getting used to. "speech"

Scald was on his return from retrieving Deluge. Exhausted, but honestly a bit happier since he'd also met an interesting girl during his travels, he was ready for a nap. The bags under his eyes and his sloppy walk was proof that he was running out of juice. Even as he emerges onto the shore of the isle, he almost misses the sight of his brother. His brother that, when they had seen each other last, had ended in a gnarly battle. So gnarly that he had broken off the tip of Rexx's tusk.

He walks a few more steps, freezes in place, hair instantly standing on end. Slowly turning to face the burly brother, Scald stares. Eyes unblinking, breath shallow and quick, quite in disbelief more than anything. "Rexx?" He says almost too quietly for even him to believe. If the boy was back, it meant something bad had happened. Where was that girl he'd run off with? As much as Scald wants to be furious at Rexx, he's grown, matured, could care less about past squabbles between them.

Defeated by his own mind, Scald deflates before closing the distance between them. His paws scoop at the sand, seconds pass, then he's diving in for a giant brotherly hug. Smashing his face against Rexx's thicker neck, he lets out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry," is all he can muster, trying to hide the rise of emotion that prickles at his eyes.

CARVE YOUR OWN PATH

Rexx didn't expect his brother to be there, standing, watching. Instinctively, the male bristled, the wash of emotions that flooded them that day tensing every muscle in his body. For a moment, it felt like he'd been transported back to that time -- rain sloughing down on their battered, bloodied pelts as they wrestled each other in the mud with every ounce of fury they could unleash. He blinked furiously, shaking his head to make sure it wasn't just a mirage conjured from his past trauma. No, Scald was there, and he was..relieved? The burly boy could barely open his maw to call out to his sibling as Scald quickly made his way over, practically sprinting into his body to offer him..a hug. A hug. And then came Scald's choked voice, welcoming him home. And suddenly, the walls caved in. His own eyes blurred as he embraced his brother's warmth. Not violence, not anger. Let bygones be bygones because they were together again. Family. Home. A sniffle from his nose interrupted the silence as he said, voice muffled through the tears and fur, "i'm sorry too." Gently pulling back, Rexx quickly wiped his eyes with a large paw, giving Scald a good look over; he'd barely changed since they last saw each other. Still the same brother, just now in a different, unexpected light. With another brief sniffle, Rexx blinked away the remainder of their tearful reunion as he added, "I-Is Dad around? I'd like to talk to him, too." "speech"

The muffled sob and apology from his brother is all he needs. Whatever they had done in the past had been immature, stupid, so heat of the moment that it didn't make sense anymore. He didn't want to be mad at his brother. He wanted everything to be okay. Why couldn't things just be okay...

Practically crushed by the more muscular body of his brother, he's glad when they separate. A guy's gotta breathe some time! Looking up at the all too familiar face of his brother, he lets out smirk. "Oh yeah, he's around. They're putting on a meetin', jus' got back from a raid," Scald clenches his teeth together, eyes wide, the sort of look like 'you don't wanna know.'

Stepping back to Rexx a bit more space, he notices that Rexx too hasn't changed much outside of the broken tusk. Well, damn, that his bad, wasn't it? Letting out a sigh, Scald glances up at the main building of the isle. "Ya haven' seen the isle yet, have ya? Wan' a tour while we wait for dad to be done?" He lifts brow, hoping Rexx will say yes.

RAISE A LIL' HELL

Rexx didn’t need anything else in the moment but the company of his brother, and once they pulled back, Scald explained where his father was. He listened intently — they had been in a raid..okay..but he guessed it went wrong somehow because Scald gritted his teeth and shot him a look. You don’t wanna know, it said. Rexx blinked, but accepted it nonetheless. Got it. Nothing more needed to be said, his eyes spoke for him. Scald seemed to sweep his gaze over him; warranted, given that the both of them hadn’t seen each other for some time. Scald appeared relatively unscathed, if not a bit leaner and more muscular — but he was still the same quilly boy he had known from their childhood. He offered to give him a tour of the isle, to which he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I’d love one, actually. This place is new to me — when did you guys leave the Beach?" He stood up, ready to go as he shook off his burly pelt, nub tail wiggling a bit in excitement. He only recognized the scent of the territory, but not the land itself; he definitely needed a lay of the land if he was to live here. If not to kill some time until his father arrived. "speech"

Scald turns toward the inner workings of the isle and begins to lead Rexx on his personal guided tour. "Dad moved us out here right after he took over from Sparrow." He heads along a path that moves them through the thick jungle into a courtyard off the side of the main building, away from the front. By the sounds of it, as he turns an ear toward the front, he can tell the meeting is still... in full swing. "We can go this way," Scald mentions as he leads Rexx toward a door that is hanging off its hinges, ready to fall. Pushing it aside, he barges his way in and attempts to hold the door open for his brother. Once they're in the dim hallway that leads to the main communal space, Scald stops a moment. "The building has three floors, we're on the first floor that is where everyone usually hangs out when the weather is bad," he continues down the hallway, stopping momentarily at a door. "That leads to the basement, but uh careful because one of the pups has... started keeping eels," Scald rolls his eyes before continuing down the hallway.

RAISE A LIL' HELL

Rexx listened as his brother mentioned that their father had moved them as soon as he had taken over from Sparrow. He nodded - fair enough, Dad had his own pack and therefore wished to find a place to start anew. He didn't mind that in the least. As they move through the thick of the jungle region, Rexx tries not to listen too closely to the harsh voices echoing from somewhere beyond their reach; it sounded tense enough as it is. He could've sworn he heard their mother's hissing voice in between there, too, but he paid little mind to it as they reached a strange structure in their midst. Scald led the way into its entrance, down a hallway that was dimly lit from the light outside. Rexx slipped in through the barely hanging door, brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of a home that was very clearly not built by any wolf's paws. Three floors? Rexx glanced up and down the hallway, and as they reached yet another door, his brother mentioned that one of the pack pups enjoyed keeping eels. "Hah! That's kinda gross and kinda cool." He remarked, a soft smirk on his lips as he examined the hallway they had just walked down. "So uh..are there like, dens in here?" It seemed like the type of area of their home where they'd room in, particularly convenient if the weather was bad. He glanced at his brother, curious. "speech"

Scald lets out a chuckle, a nod of his head. "I think you'll get a kick out of the new heathens mom and dad produced. Except one already got herself kicked from the pack so she's a goner," he shrugs. Calliope hadn't ever been his favorite or really anyone else's except for maybe that Jael girl, but Scald didn't tend to waste time around the pack much either. Other things to do and such. As they stand in the main area of the first floor, he looks over to Rexx and lets out a thoughtful noise. "Oh, hm, it's kinda like the ship. There's rooms for everyone, I'll show ya," at that, Scald moves up the staircase to the second floor, pausing on the landing. "This is where anyone not related to mum or dad can stay or any of us if we don't wanna live at the top," he smiles at Rexx before moving up to the top floor. Stopping at the landing, he turns to show Rexx two long hallways. "There's 'nough empty rooms up here that you can take whichever ya like. Or if you don't, there's plenty of bungalows aroun' the isle too," Scald turns to point his nose toward a wide window where they could see a few of the bungalows dotted over the landscape. "I'll show ya mine," he adds after a few moments so Rexx can take it all in. Moving down the left hallway that faces out toward the open ocean, Scald doesn't stop until they reach the room at the very end. Ducking in under the tattered sheet that is hung over the doorway, he reveals his humble abode to his brother. It's a smaller room with only one small side room over to the left. A small hearth crackles with coals and soft embers. A crudely drawn map directly to their right hangs on the wall with both Boreas and Auster depicted, details of each pack's territories highlighted with different dyes. Other small nick knacks lay scattered around with plenty of furs and pillows to lounge on. There's even a balcony with floor to ceiling windows to look out over the beach and ocean. "It ain't much compared to others but I like it," Scald says as he moves toward the balcony and pushes open the thick glass door to allow some cool air inside. Scald Fallen

table coding by bunni ♥