Darrah couldn't help but let out a hefty sigh. He knew that the conversation to come would be difficult, though somehow he felt it was far too important to just push under the rug. Talking about life's conflicts always lead to a faster solution, and as of recently the Tainn was definitely past due for a conversation. Tilting up his maw, the male called out for the Bend's alpha Serach. At the very least, he was confident enough in the decisions he'd came up with, hopefully the pair would be able to see eye to eye.

"Ha, I shouldn't even be worried!" Darrah chuckled nervously, falling back on his haunches to wait for Serach's arrival. "He's family! I'm sure he'll understand where I'm comin' from." But then again, the two were only as close as any ol' pair of pack mate's might be. He now regretted not forming a tighter bond with the male sooner, there had been plenty of opportunities to do such in the past. "Worrying won't make this run any smoother.  I just gotta' calm down.. He'll probably be relieved, I know I would be.. If I were.. pack leader.." The feeling still left a bit of a bitter taste on the raven's tongue, however he was aware that remaining salty over recent events wouldn't bring him any good. With another over-dramatic sigh, the male extended his gaze over the horizons.

Lifting his muzzle from the water, Serach listened quietly as @Darrah's voice called. Water dripping from his wet chin, he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Glancing to the east, he briefly entertained the notion of ignoring Darrah and pretending he hadn't heard. The old Serach might have done that, as ashamed as he was to admit, but that was a luxury he could no longer afford. Despite the tension between the two cousins, Serach had a duty to Darrah as his packmate. Leaving the coolness of Cold Water Creek behind him, the Bend leader forced himself to follow the sound of the call, stopping only to howl a response, I'm coming.

He had never been able to pinpoint exactly when things had become uncomfortable between them, Serach realized as he loped through the woods towards the direction Darrah had called from. But it had always seemed to be there - perhaps because Darrah had always styled himself the prince of Oak Tree Bend, as though the pack and its members were his birthright. It had been complicated for Serach when he was growing up, and even now as an adult and at the helm of the Bend, although through no achievement of his own, he couldn't help but wonder if Darrah maintained those same ambitions. The younger wolf had certainly not been congratulatory upon hearing the news at the pack meeting, the man thought with a grimace.

Slowing his pace to a walk, Serach took several deep breaths as the Tainn's scent grew stronger. He was nervous, with butterflies flurrying about his stomach, but there was no turning back now no matter what the purpose of this meeting was. It will be okay, he reassured himself as he spotted Darrah's form amongst the trees. "Hey, Darrah," he called, pulling himself up with more confidence than he was feeling. "What's up?"

Darrah's heart dropped as the male finally came to greet him. Confrontation was certainly far from being his strong suit, and that alone was yet another indicator that the decisions he'd settled on were more than likely right. "H-hey Serach.." He offered in return, taking in a few deep breaths before deciding it best not to prolong the event for much longer. "I'm going to get straight to the point here.. I-it's been awkward, yeah? Between us.. Ever since you were given my father's position.. Or maybe the feeling is one sided..?" with a sigh, the Tainn again had to halt and recollect just what it was that he intended to get at. "Well, regardless, I mean.. I've just been thinking a lot about that.. About us, the pack.. Myself." That last bit he'd been a professional at. It was no secret that the raven had been quite full of himself in the past. "Well you see.. I'm going to be honest with you. For a while there I was pissed. I don't know, I just sort of.. Always thought it'd be me up there, you know? I never really stopped to think about how little entitlement I actually held to the bend.. I never thought about the history behind it all. This pack isn't mine. It was never mine. Oak Tree Bend had always been yours." Ouch. The sentence stung a lot more being said out loud. "Though at the same time, Serach.. I'm no subordinate.."

With a frown, the former prince studied his alpha's reaction. "But again, this pack's not mine.. I have a proposition, no. A favor to ask of you.. I'd like to continue to live in the Bend, continue my training as a guardian. I'd like to be your guardian, if you'd have me. I'd then like to watch you. Study the way you run this pack, learn how to be a good leader.. And then when the time comes, I'd like to leave and start a pack of my own. I'd do it now but.. I'm not ready. A pack deserves a leader who's not running off all the time.. Who's not being selfish, melancholy, arrogant.. I'm all of these things. You're not though! I'd like to learn how to be more like you. I think if I could do that, then I'd definitely succeed as a leader some day.." This was it. This was the moment in which Serach would either agree to Darrah's request, or tell him to get the fuck out and never come back. The Tainn could only think of a small handful of instances in which he's felt this nervous. Impatiently awaiting a response, the male continued to watch his company.

There was no mistaking the tension in the air, and a part of Serach was pleased to hear the skip in Darrah's greeting. It meant that Serach was not alone in feeling this way, which made the whole thing easier to deal with. But he was not prepared for what came next, and as Darrah verbally acknowledged that tension, all the leader could do was nod his head in silent agreement. No, it's definitely not one-sided.

His belly filled with dread, he listened quietly. He was waiting for the punch that would never fall, though, and as Darrah stated that the Bend had never really belonged to Darrah himself, but rather to Serach, his eyes visibly widened in shock. Those were words Serach had never thought he would hear Triell's oldest son say. Darrah had always carried himself like a prince, a styling that Serach had always been irritated by, and so it was with great surprise that he listened to him admit that he no longer believed himself to be the prince of the land they both had both been born to.

It was not so simple, though. It would have been foolish to assume that Darrah had completely forsaken his ambition, nor did Serach really want him to. He still wanted to be leader, but not of the Bend, and that was a goal that Serach could get behind. Staring at Darrah, he wondered if this was how @Drestig and @Triell must have felt whenever they approached one another after it became clear that Drestig's leadership was no longer just temporary. The key difference, though, was when the time came for Darrah to take his leave, Serach would not be surprised.

"You know..." he said after a few moments of silence, well aware that Darrah was watching him closely. "I've always wondered how this was going to play out - this competition between us. We didn't really ask for it, did we?" He wasn't trying to be cryptic, but it was truly how he felt - the circumstances of their births and their lives growing up had put them in this position through no real fault of their own. "I understand how hard it must be for you to let go of something you've wanted forever - leading the Bend, that is. And I want you to know that I don't fault you for wanting that." He stared at him, his hard gaze meeting the fiery orange eyes of the Tainn. "I guess what I'm saying is I'm glad you're telling me all of this. I think you will be a good leader, when the time comes. Until then, the Bend is your home - and it will always be your home no matter where you end up. As for being my guardian...well....I think that's a great idea," he finished with a wag of his tail, his lips turning upwards to offer Darrah a reassuring smile. "I know you trained with Drestig at one point. How much did he teach you?"