Sanguine Cove so we scale the walls and fire escapes

For @Nash only.

Chan found himself wondering, as he followed after his brother's trail, just how many times he would end up doing this throughout his life. Every time he thought he'd gotten away, something dragged him back. This sense of epicenter wasn't why he had the thoughts he did, however it certainly did help encourage them. He could hope that maybe this time something would shift, releasing them from this horrid loop, but he also maintained a healthy dose of skepticism.

Mounting bodies might be warning to some, but to others it was a sign to dig in their heels.

He spotted Nash's dark form and picked up his pace, jogging to catch up.

"Nash," he huffed as he fell into step with the younger leader, "we need to talk."

Something had shifted within the pack - within it's young leader. Perhaps it had shifted months ago and he was only now realizing it. Maybe it was because his wife was so far gone they weren't going to breed this year; for the best, but it meant the pack would likely not have pups, would not grow. It was probably a little of everything this last year, between the drought and the deaths and the disappearances and everything else.

Nash knew something was coming. Going was probably the better term. With Flair's arrival came news of far-off friends Nash would make a point to visit as soon as he could. And... That feeling. The shift that was finally settling into the leader's mind.

He knew what Chan was going to seek him for. Nash needed to organize his thoughts, prepare himself... So he headed for one of the craggy outcrops that overlooked the valley. The very one he and his brother had watched the light explosions from. Chan tracked him down first, however. As he approached Nash kept his heading, ears twitching to acknowledge his brother without stopping. "Yes," he agreed as he walked, "we do."

His tone was not hard or malicious or angry, merely a hollow agreement.

Nash's response was unusual for him, and Chan's stomach dropped as those empty words met his ears. Uh oh. Did Nash have his own news to break? Or was this just the weight of all that happened? He watched his brothers features as they walked, brows crinkled with concern. Then he stopped, hoped the other would do the same.

"... Nash I..." he'd thought so much about this and still did not know the right way to say it. He was afraid that his sibling would take umbrage no matter what with what he was about to suggest.

"I think you and Oksana should move the pack."

They walked, the leader acutely aware of his brother's searching gaze. Still he did not glance over, his own thoughts rolling around trying to find the right words. When Chan stopped Nash kept walking, only reluctantly halting and turning back when it became apparent Chan would not follow.

He knew what he was about to say - that he was leaving with Flair. Nash opened his mouth to tell him it was okay, he understood. He had his own thoughts on the matter, but what Chan said was so very not what was expected.

Surprise flickered over Nash's face before he managed to school it back into neutrality - a skill he was slowly getting better at. It likely wouldn't work on his brother, or at least it wouldn't have last year. Who knew, now, with this chasm growing between them?

"Why?" he demanded, only barely managing not to splutter.

There it was, the start to what would surely become an argument. Chan tried to keep his own emotions calm, but he couldn't help but already feel put off by that simple question. Had Nash really needed to ask it? Did he think this was a normal way to live? Death was unavoidable, yes, but the continuous tragedy that plagued the Cove was something different, something preventable if they listened to nature rather than continuing to fight against it.

"So wolves can stop dying," he answered, voice impassioned.

"We can't hunt down and kill every other predator on this mountain, we can't stop the storms or change how dangerous this place is but you can move somewhere safer."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd wanted his brother to regain some of the passion he'd had before, but for it to come back like this? Asking him to leave his home? To take his children from the only home they'd ever known, take his mother away from the place where she was meant to be buried with her husband and friends, Chan's own stillborn littermate? Leave the history here.

Nash didn't realize he was shaking his head until Chan finished and he was left to reply. "Everyone faces deaths," he said. "Every territory has its dangers. Every lake freezes over, every tree hides a predator. We've had a bad year, but that doesn't mean every year is a bad year." How did Chan know this? Wasn't he the well-travelled one, the one that met all these other wolves and formed all these packs and done al these amazing things?

Clearly something had happened while he'd been gone. Nash had always known that, and he wished his brother would tell him, but it was only growing ever clearer as time wore on that Chan was well and truly changed.

"A bad year?"

Chan's mismatched eyes searched Nash's features a moment, as though he must be joking. This wasn't what he wanted, to be the aggressor again, to put Nash through even more hurt, but lives were literally on the line at this point. Nash's life was on the line. Chan didn't want him following in Aleister's pawprints, in Tagg's pawprints. They didn't have to keep sacrificing themselves for one another like this, time after time after time.

"Every year there are storms worse here than anywhere else, solely because we are closer to the sky. There are avalanches that only happen atop ranges. How many have been lost in them, Nash? How many killed? You were that child, several times. So was I, and the generation before us, and clearly each after. The cats that keep maiming everyone? They're called mountain lions for a reason. Hell, what about Dad, Nash? Was him being buried alive by his own home a 'bad year'?"

There wasn't anger in his voice, rather something similar to desperation. If they could only ever find one more thing to agree on their entire lives, this needed to be it.

Nash didn't want to fight. He was trying to avoid one - trying to keep his voice calm, trying not to trigger something that might change them forever. He felt like he was trying to climb ice; every time he lifted a paw, he slid further downwards. This was not at all the conversation he thought he was going to be having with his brother. H knew Chan would be leaving with Flair, knew things that would be said that might hurt and might not but needed to be said-

But now was clearly not the time. Nash opened his mouth to reply to Chan's desperate tirade, only for the last sentence to fall from the agouti man's lips and Nash's teeth clicked closed as he froze. He stared at his brother, right in his eyes, as that ice he'd been climbing seeped into his limbs and blood. He drew himself upright as he stood and fully faced Chan. "What do you know about it?" he said, voice low and deadly calm. "You weren't here." It was a low-blow, he knew, but only fair in return for his brother's cheap shot.

It was clear that despite his intentions, Chan's words pained his brother. The shift in his demeanor was clear, and there was a small voice in the back of his skull that bid him to submit. Instead he stood his ground, holding Nash's hardening gaze, mouth pulled into a taut, thin line.

'You weren't there.'

First his brows knit together, then a scoff left his nostrils. Anger wanted to rear, but it was impotent and fizzled instead. Indignation and disappointment both lurked within his eyes, but he spoke evenly.

"So I didn't lose my father too?"

His whiskers twitched as his muzzle wrinkled briefly, but frustration was quick to give way to sadness.

"I just want you safe, Nash."

Why did he have to be so damn stubborn?

(This post was last modified: Jul 20, 2023, 02:19 AM by Chan.)

There seemed to be an amalgamation of emotion flickering through Chan's eyes, but Nash held his gaze and his posture. He felt guilty for his comment the moment he said it, but it wasn't fair of Chan to fling that in his face, either. The older Eastfall's emotions finally settled into sadness with a twitch of his whiskers.

Nash softened and leaned forward to gently bump his brother with his forehead, as he often did. "I know," he said, and he did. He knew where Chan was coming from. This year had been... more than just a bad year. Al's loss especially hit them hard, and everything just got worse from there. They didn't know if there would be another drought this year, or if the heavy winter would bring something just as bad. They could never know. At least here they'd had water throughout the summer, unlike their neighbors.

"I know you mean well," Nash said quietly, "and... I'll bring it up with everybody. But I can't just abandon our home."