It was another sleepless night for Leo, nothing out of the ordinary these days. With little Eclypse now old enough to start toddling around on her own, it was even more essential to keep their borders strong, and the territory free of any and all possible threats. After what happened to Sephrina, the young guardian had become truly paranoid in regard to predator infiltration, sniffing out even the smallest signs of foreign activity, determined to not let as much as a stoat cross the borders.

Of course, he couldn’t be everywhere at once, but he tried anyway, walking his lonesome patrols almost every waking moment. He expected tonight to be no different, thinking perhaps he’d catch a mink or maybe even a fox trying to sneak in for an easy meal; Not on my watch! What he had not at all expected to catch was the scent of a wolf who did not belong on the mountain – yet it was all too familiar!

A strange, twisted feeling clutched Leo’s chest as he followed the scent to its source, soon spotting the tawny form up ahead. He stopped a few lengths away, staring down his (former?) friend with furrowed brows, voice tight and slightly breathless as he called out: “Eros, what are you doing here?”

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He couldn’t blame Eros for being angry, for hating him and all of the Cove after what had happened – if something had happened to one of Leo’s sisters when they were in the Backwater, he’d never have forgiven them; or himself. Which only made it that much more baffling to see him here, of all places.

Leo half expected an attack, at least a verbal one, but all he could gauge on the other boy’s face was a similar confusion. As silence stretched, he even started to open his own mouth, wanting to reach out, apologize; Something…! But nothing he did could possibly make any difference. So he just stood there, frozen.

Until the question finally came, shocking a breathless: “Wha…?” From his lips. Stunned blinks followed, for entirely too long before he finally managed to ask: “Why would Archer come here?” Surely the second Valle brother would have just as much against the Cove as Eros; Surely this is the last place he’d be…

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His intense reaction only confused Leo further, his body instinctively tensing at the half-snarl, head lowering into a more defensive position. He didn’t want to believe Eros was looking to hurt him, but the other boy was clearly very upset and seemed to be acting erratically. So Leo held his ground, waiting for Eros to turn back to him and say what he’d come to say.

When he spoke though, Leo had no idea what he was talking about, the disjointed words making no sense to the Vuesain as his confusion started to grow into frustration. He wanted to yell back at his former friend; Kateri’s not what? Lose what?! Where did he come off, stalking around here and then bringing up Kateri and Archer, of all things, when confronted? Is he really just here to hurt us? Hurt ME? Something dark and painful twisted in Leo’s stomach, making him feel sick. He was just about ready to turn away, leave Eros to his ramblings before he could cause anymore damage, but there was a hint of something deeper on the other boy’s face that made him linger.

And then the bomb dropped; she was pregnant. Furrowed brows shot up high, his defensive stance loosening out of sheer shock, mouth falling fully open. Several moments passed of Leo just blinking back at the other boy, mouth working silently, before he finally stammered: “She… She was… What?!” Surely that couldn’t be right, he had to have misheard; Kati can’t be pregnant, she’s just a kid! In no way was she old enough to be having pups, not his sister; And if she was… A sudden thought made Leo’s brows knit back together, eyes narrowing slightly at the other boy; “Wait, why would she come here?” Kateri had made her choice, and was the Backwater, Archer and his family; So then… “Why do you not know where they are?!”

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Eros clearly didn’t like that question. His bared teeth and sharp words spurred Leo to react in turn, his hackles rising and lips curling at the implied accusations; How dare he…! To think Leo wasn’t aware, that one moment of unawareness could spell death – with bears and cougars lurking around every corner; I fucking get it alright! He knew he’d failed. Over and over again he’d failed those he was meant to protect! Yet, having Eros of all wolves reminding him of it, it made the pain of that knowledge flare up all anew.

And the Backwater wolf wasn’t done. More and more venom he spat, and most of it, Leo could say nothing against – he couldn’t even fault Eros his anger, most of it full justified. But still, the young Vuesain felt fire rise in his own chest, indignant, despite his own resentment towards Kateri, he couldn’t take the blatant assault of his sister without clapping back. “And why didn’t you teach Archer to control himself?” He snarled; “What kind of freak screws someone right after his sister dies? At least she was in heat, what’s his fucking excuse?” Leo paused, breathing heavily. He was angry at her too and this only added to his list of reasons, but Eros had no place putting all the blame on Kateri.

Neither did he have any excuse to come sniffing around here, just to throw around more insults. “Why the hell are you here anyway?” He continued, tail flicking up slightly, a guardian at his border; “She gave you all of herself, right down to her damned womb, and you kicked her out? And Archer with her, your own fucking brother?” How could he hold himself so high, speaking like he was above all of the Cove, when he had turned out his own family. Voice growing hoarse from emotion yet not decreasing in volume, Leo added: “Kati never cared about what we taught her, she had no loyalty to us! Clearly you precious Valles didn’t do any better! And yet here you come crawling, expecting us to have taken in your bloody leftovers!”

He took a deep breath through his nose, neck straightening up out of his defensive position, to glare down on his former friend from on high; “There are consequences for our actions.”

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He didn’t want to fight Eros, despite the sourness that had grown between them, and the heart wrenching hurt of his words; even if they were friends no more, did they truly have to be enemies? The image of Sephrina’s still, drenched body flashed in his minds eye; He’s right to hate me…

Even as the bigger boy snarled and postured, Leo suddenly just felt tired, his anger burning out as quickly as it had flared. What was the point of fighting? They were only hurting each other even more – he, at least, didn’t want that. A humorless smile curved his lips at Eros’ words; Is that supposed to make me feel better? He supposed it should, knowing that at least his sister had turned her back on the Valles, much like she had her own family, but it didn’t.

He let the next several insults slide by, too exhausted to snap back. Only one thing made his nose wrinkle, a sneer in his voice has he couldn’t keep from announcing: “They are not Vuesains.” Kateri had firmly given up her right to that name when she abandoned the family – though Eros would have a nice biting response to that, he was sure. Still, he wanted it said and as the other youth made to leave, he was doubly glad to have voiced his disdain. There was no winning Eros back, Leo knew that, but still his heart longed to try.

The final statement though, couldn’t help but spur his curiosity, one brow arching. “What were you hoping to learn?” he asked, voice level now, no anger or accusation left even if the words themselves might imply it; “If they needed to figure things out for themselves, then what’s it to you wherever they went?” As much as Eros had tried to wash his paws of the whole affair, he’d come here looking for his brother; Clearly he still cares!

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