Be Like Them, Lean Back and Breathe

@Osiris

So it was official, not that he was really aware of the blooming relationship to start with, but his dear little sister had landed a boyfriend. He was happy for her of course, but really he...didn't know too much about Osiris. Concerning...yeah that was a word that fit. Whatever he seemed fine even if their first interaction he could remember was him trying to prevent him from seeing his sister. At least he knew that he was willing to protect her.

Still, Leta was his only family here. She was all he had and she might be rambling happily in his ear now about the guy, but if he so much as heard one bad thing that hurt her, he'd regret it. If he was going to join their little family though it was about time that he really got to know him. With a couple of hares in maw, he wandered the mountainside looking for any signs of the other.

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Truth be told, Osiris hadn't considered asking West Tyree for permission to court his sister. It had been a while since they had last spoken, but Leta had reminded him of the other's existence when she talked about her brother. He had intended on meeting him sooner than later, but there had been other matters for him to attend to first. Hydra had begun her nesting, and Osiris had descended to the mountain's higher reaches to help protect the area where she had settled. He only came down every so often when he needed a break or wanted to see Leta; of course, she was well aware of what was happening and why he was distant. 

Osiris was on a break when West Tyree was looking for him. He was ankle-deep in a creek, drinking. The water was refreshing, like a nice, cold beer after a long day at work, and he was greedy in his portion. While getting his fill, Osiris's ears remained forward, aware of his immediate surroundings. Presently, the bubbling of the river and the occasional chirp of a songbird was all that he could hear, but Osiris knew how quickly that could change. The mountain had a solid foundation of members, and it wouldn't be surprising if somebody happened upon him.

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And happened upon him he did. A gruff chuff came muffled from his maw as the woodland man caught sight of the other drinking from the river.  He hadn't caught on to Hydra's news yet, remaining more so along the borders and sometimes the lands beyond, but he had noticed the withdrawal of her scent along the borders. Had others not carried her scent still he would have assumed she ventured out somewhere.

West moved closer to the river, placing the rabbits at his paws before taking a seat to look over Osiris. He certainly wasn't bad-looking by any means so he could see where his sister might have held an attraction, not that he ever considered how eligible other males were as bachelors BUT ANYWAY. “Haven't seen ya around in a while.” His fault probably, though he recalled Dirge mentioning Osiris' travels around the time he came back.

“Seems like we were both traveling around. When'd ya have time to mooch my sister?” Unless he really had been blind, in which case he needed to get his eyes checked. Again, probably his fault since he had been following his own obsession but he thought he had kept enough of an eye out for Leta that he would have noticed something before she told him the news.

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When West chuffed, Osiris paused his drinking and lifted his head. Water dribbled from his chin, falling into the river below. "West," he greeted, lingering in the water. He noticed the rabbits second, and he glanced at them for a moment as his stomach gurgled; when was the last time he had eaten? "It has," he agreed, returning his attention to his brother-in-law (kinda???? i guess??? i'm calling them that and YOU CAN'T STOP ME.) "I'm glad to see that you're doing well." 

West was quick to cut to the chase, and Osiris recoiled internally. He didn't care for the choice of words—mooch sounded so ... nasty—but he did not show his dislike. Instead, he squared his shoulders and took a breath; Osiris needed to be on his good side. 

"Yes, I spent time looking for my lost brothers and sisters," he answered, addressing that first. "I didn't manage to find anybody. I took some time away from the pack for most of the summer, and Leta helped me through it." There was nothing for him to feel shame about; the summer had been some of his darkest days. 

As for mooching Leta, "We knew each other before we came here," he explained. "Somehow. We woke together, in each other's arms, and could remember that we were close then." They were closer now. "So ... it's been building for a while now. We share a den, spend a good amount of time together," there had been plenty of time for their romance to flourish (even though most of it was BTS because chan had a big writing funk). "She's amazing. I'm lucky to be able to see her so often." Osiris spoke as he normally did; there was no reason to be defensive as they were having a conversation. 

Curious, as he realized how much time it'd been since they had both seen each other, he asked, "Where did you travel?" Osiris was sure that he'd heard in passing, but his memory was failing him.

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“You too.” Even if he did look a little tired, he had to be doing well. Can't really get a girlfriend and be bad. Maybe he had come on a bit hard, but this was his only sister, at least here, and he didn't regret his approach. Osiris seemed to take a breath before squaring off to address what he was sure he thought he wanted to hear. Honestly, it was what he wanted to hear, but the shock he experienced when the other man said they shared a den.

Color him blind I guess. Had he been drinking from the river as well he would have surely spat out his sip, but since he wasn't he essentially looked like he had been hit in the head by a brick.

“Oh— I-Is that so?” Originally he planned on pulling the big brother tough guy act but now he probably just looked stupid as he quickly tried to fix his face and the twitching smile he was left with.

Osiris had no reason to lie, and West knew that he had to be telling the truth since he woke up here with him and Leta a short distance away. Had he really been so blind though or were his memories from before more hazy than he thought? It was sad to think that he might be missing more...maybe it connected to his urge to travel as well. The woodland man sighed, reaching with his hindleg to scratch at the back of his ear.

He could pick and scratch at his brain all he wanted though, realistically he was just hitting his head against an invisible barrier waiting for something to change. West supposed at the very least he should be glad his sister didn't suffer the same. She had Osiris and together they could piece together their feelings and memories. “Yeah haha— she's somethin' else.” So don't hurt her. He couldn't bring himself to raise the threat now though.

Somehow in all of this, he had just swallowed a rock that now settled in his stomach. Was he just supposed to feel like something was missing for the rest of his life? It made him angry and sad and only dragged an itch to his paws to run and find out, but he refused to move, actually thankful Osiris had backtracked the conversation. “Um, south mostly. I was looking for—” Nothing. “Your— family.... As well... I, uh, met a few wolves, but none were related or knew about Empyrean or Moonspear so.” He shrugged his shoulders tilting his head to the side “I ended up just coming back.”

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Osiris watched as West's face twisted unpleasantly for a quick bit. Perhaps he had been too forward, but that was how he approached most conversations. Still, Osiris felt relieved when West replaced his pained expression with a twitching smile. "It is," he confirmed, watching the other wolf's face for any added signs of uneasiness. 

"She is," Osiris agreed. They seemed (or at least from what he could tell) more comfortable with each other, and his posture lessened in response to his assumption. Though, his expression did not shift. He remained stoic and unreadable; he didn't lower his guard entirely to those outside of his family. 

The mention of his wayward family brought pain to his heart, but he kept that to himself. "They're elusive, aren't they?" he asked. Osiris didn't want to expand on the subject of his family, and so he asked, "Did you meet anybody interesting out there?" Sticking to his mission, Osiris had not investigated the surrounding pack lands.

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A nervous chuckle was all West could offer at first as his gaze shifted up to the clear skies, “Yeah, wherever they are they're either really lost or they really don't want to be found.” He wasn't sure which would be best in this case. Honestly, he almost wished he could take it back. The thought of Leta running off purposely trying to avoid coming home, seeing him, well...he didn't like that. “But um— There's still the north! We both haven't been that way so...never know.”

The woodland man couldn't exactly call his travels interesting either. He was still rather guarded about finding Vengeance and his band of cronies here. Of course, wherever they were he had to end up here too as if his family hadn't been through enough. “Not really, no. I met our...allies.” The word felt bitter on his tongue, but it was sadly the truth. His talk with Hydra had failed to push the urge to deal with them, but at least it seemed like she may be keeping an eye on him. “There was this old structure though. Lots of weird stones stacked and crumbled. Saw some chickens and pigs running around there.”

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“Yeah, wherever they are, they're either really lost, or they really don't want to be found,” West said. Osiris considered it for a moment, feeling suddenly sad. He didn't know why they wouldn't want to be found—except for Mintaka, who had always been the family's black sheep—and in an unexplainable way, it hurt him. For a minute, he was silent and centered himself with his breath.  It was a mechanism that @Hydra had taught him in his training, and he used it often. 

 "We'll find them." he said, dropping the subject entirely.

West had a decent amount of material to report, and Osiris was interested in everything. "How were they?" he asked in regards to their allies. He knew what pack it was, but Chan doesn't and needs to learn about it!! And then, curious, he added, "What ... are pigs and chickens?" Osiris had never happened upon them before. For now, he forgot the stacked stones; it didn't pike this interest as much as the other things had.

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The air almost seemed tense as Osiris fell silent, but soon enough he would dismiss the conversation as a whole. Sore spot probably...looking back on it he may have been insensitive about his missing family. After all, hadn't he been in the same spot for most of his childhood? Clay had come and gone so many times, each disappearance only worsening things between them and Newt...well, he hadn't heard from him in a long time now. Despite the time they were still family, and he longed for them all the same.

The woodland man huffed as Osiris steered to the Nightwalkers. It was hard for him to say anything nice about them, not that he knew their status that well as things were in the first place. “Agressive.” It was the truth after all, “Their alpha thought I was a lier when I said I came from here so whatever inner dealings they have I wasn't exactly clued in on.” Overall he still didn't approve of the alliance, but at least it kept those assholes off their backs...for now.

“I wasn't too sure what they were at first, but your dad seemed to know what they were. Chickens are like these little birds, plumper than the stuff you'll see flying around here. They stuck to the ground unless I got too near. Pigs are basically hairless boars without the tusks so you could count them as a free meal really.” Or at least for a skilled hunter like himself. He hadn't had any problems taking one down with no threats like tusks to worry about in a hunt.

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"Aggressive," West replied, and Osiris's interest piqued. He didn't like the sound of unruly neighbors—especially with Empyrean's newest litter on the way. "Why would he think that?" he wondered, wishing he had been a fly on the wall for that conversation.  Where? When? Who?—the questions raced through his mind, and an uncertain thrill rose within him. He craved more information, and he could only hope that West would oblige. "Did the group have a name?" he started with, before adding, "Do they live near here?" 

With Osiris's interest (presumably) satiated, he focused on learning about the prey that West had discovered. "Huh," was all he could say at first, as he conjured up a mental image of the creatures. They seemed odd, but that wouldn't be the first thing he had discovered that was off about this region. Everything had been flipped upside down when he woke up here. "But, hey, I'll take an easy meal anytime," he said with a grin. 

"Would you want to go and hunt them sometime?" Osiris figured it'd be another way to get to know West, and he knew Leta would appreciate the gesture.

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“I had been traveling away from Empyrean shortly after joining so I didn't carry the pack scent. Yet my knowledge of Hydra and my mission from her did not seem to be enough to satisfy his beliefs.” Even now it irked him. The scent he could understand, but he knew more than just a pack name and its alpha. More than a passerby lying. “They are Empyrean's allies...the Nightwalkers. I've already voiced my concerns to Hydra. I've heard of them back home, and for nothing good at that.” It was too much to get into now. The long story short was they were bad news.

“They claim some forest to the south led by a man you can smell from miles away. He goes by Vengeance, though it's probably a fake name.” Because who names their kid Vengeance? At least they were more than a day's journey and a rather large river separated their lands. “You wanna go hunt? It was a bit of a journey to bring anything back here, but...” well, he never really did finished his journies to the south. He ended up turning back since the days passed faster than he expected with nothing to show. “I heard there's this meadow down to the west. I wanted to go see it sometime. The way it was described sounded like where I was born.”

Was it a long shot? Probably, but maybe it was Easthollow. He wasn't sure how he ended up out this way, but maybe he had been exploring and hit his head or something...not that...he had any injuries when he woke up, but hey worth a shot right?

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"I see," Osiris drawled, processing the information. He vaguely knew about the Nightwalkers and Vengence and trusted Hydra's judgment, but now he felt concerned. "I'll have to pay them a visit," he decided. Visting the Warlord and his pack would be the only way to quiet his interest. 

When West invited him to hunt, Osiris nodded. "I'd enjoy that." He hadn't expected them to head out so soon, but he didn't have much to do aside from patrolling. It'd be a nice change of pace.

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Osiris seemed to be processing all the information when he finally spoke again with interest to see for himself. He couldn't help but let his mouth twist into a lopsided frown at the news. Vengeance cared little for what he had to say and "claiming" to be one of Hydra's sons would likely not spare Osiris either. “I'll go with you then. We probably need to pass their land anyways and I don't trust him to not attack you.” Sure Osiris could likely handle himself, but he had a pack, and traveling he was just one wolf.

“Run it by your mom maybe? I heard she's expecting I'd hate to run off now if she needs us.” Not that they weren't large enough to protect the land with two guys gone (hell they were the largest pack on-site). A trip would be good...he could see more and maybe quiet the nagging in his head about Leta dating someone. “I'll be around though so uh...just howl?” They were both usually patrolling somewhere too, surely their paths would cross again for their journey.

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wrap here?

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Yeah! Thanks for the thread!

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West offered to go along, and Osiris appreciated it. "That sounds like a plan," he said, "It would be foolish for me to travel alone, especially to a pack that sounds so dangerous." He didn't take the warnings lightly; something seemed amiss with the Nightwalkers. Another suggestion was proposed, and he nodded. "Of course," he replied. He wouldn't have dreamed of going without his mother's explicit permission, especially as they were allied with the other pack. Still, he appreciated it as he wasn't explicit about the series of events he needed to overcome before going. 

The mention of his future siblings brought a smile to his face. "Yes, we won't be leaving anytime soon," he assured the other wolf. "I will be standing guard for my parents for a while." It would be months before Osiris would travel again. 

He nodded; their plan was set. "Of course," he said, dipping his head. West's insight was beneficial, and Osiris had a lot to think about. He'd mull over it when he could, as they waited for the ideal time to leave. 

It seemed like their conversation had come to an end, and Osiris took the cue. "If you'll excuse me, I better get going," he said, excusing himself. "It was nice to talk to you finally... I'm sure I'll see you around." Osiris would seek out West more often, as their relationship was just as important as the one between him and Leta. 

They said their goodbyes then and parted ways.

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His words seemed to be held in some form of regard as the other mulled over what had been said. It was no surprise that Osiris had no intentions of leaving any time soon, and while he was mildly disappointed to put a pin in his plans, he understood full-heartedly. If they had been his brothers and sisters he would want to stay and help however he could too...and honestly, he should even though they were not.

“Yeah you too— um...sorry I was...weird? My sister, she's all I got so...” Just don't hurt her. It was hard to say he knew Osiris very well still, but at the very least he knew a bit more of his character to feel comfortable with him seeing Leta. He'd offer one last nod as Osiris said his goodbyes and as soon as he was on his way out, West would continue on his way as well.

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