on a great horse of gold into the silver dawn.

^^Archon found that he did not know how to be an older brother. He did not know how to be a normal brother, either, actually. These children were not related to him by blood, and yet — yet he could look down at their adorable little faces and just want to kiss their little foreheads.

He needed to make his decision now, he supposed. Things had changed; his family had changed. Hawking and the children were included now. Hawking, who had a home south, and didn’t want to give up what he had for Archon, and Archon who had no skills to really help out the pack.

He and his mother hadn’t really had alone time since she’d found him in the tundra dealing with those zombies. That had felt like forever ago, now. She had a busy life now, between pack duties, and the children and — well, Archon was still her kid, too, right? Even though he was a young adult?

Instead of searching for her, Archon decided instead that he would test his singing ability. {rolled 19 of 20}

“The lines stitched into highways;
 the never-ending seams,
 on roads that are less traveled,
 diving you and me.

I wish I could unravel,
 the fabric in-between,
 and tear away the distance,
 to bring you close to me.”

— actual poem by Lang Leav

^^
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Olive couldn't be sure what pulled her from the nursery that day, but it was something; a force that compelled her to rise from the warm furs and beckon for her nearest attendant to keep watch, then again as she whisked out of the threshold and into the brisk, early autumn air. Truly, Olive was never one to need a reason or an explanation to do things. When you were filled with the Gods, you sometimes just assumed they were the reason for these impulses and whims.

— but then she heard the singing.

and then, all at once, the mother knew the direction in which she was being pulled. Olive allowed herself to be guided by the vibrato, which twisted and coiled and performed pirouettes around her heart, pulling her along like a baited fish on a hook. The Vale wasn't the largest tract of land, but the crater-like valley did much for the promulgation of the voice. She waited until he had concluded his stanza, before making her audience known.

"Archon,” she admitted with a heartfelt and succorous smile, "Your song was enrapturing.” It was easy to admit that she hadn't the most free time lately, but she was here now.

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^^While the song had been for his mother, he hadn’t known where she was — though a good assumption would ofc be the nursery — and he didn’t know if she would come out for a song that, well.. Archon hadn’t known before today if he had possessed the skills of a bard.

Yet, the words came without hesitation, and Archon felt as though this was something he could continue doing. Something about this felt right. And he immediately began plotting how he ought to sing for his sisters, and of course, for Hawking.

His stanza had ended and soon after, as though she had been waiting, his mother made herself known. Archon turned to her with a sheepish smile. He pondered if he ought to call her by name, or if Mom was still acceptable.

“Thank you, Ma..?” Even calling her such, he felt less confident. His brows came together in question as he met her eyes. Is it still okay to call you that? They seemed to ask, in the silence, as he looked at her and slowly wagged his tail.

“It was for you. I’m glad you liked it.” He would say, sheepishly and awkwardly, as if awaiting the storm of bad news. There were knots in his stomach for what he was about to say next.

“I, uh, well, I was going to ask you how I could help around the pack. I feel… so.. ” Stupid. Weak. Dumb. Useless. He turned to look her in the eyes, his ears lowering. “I feel so invisible, Ma, and I.. I want to help out. I want to.. be someone you and Tiberius, and Hawking, and the girls can be proud of.. and and.. ” He stopped with a sigh, lowering his gaze to the floor.

“And I just don't know how to do any of that. ” Archon said, softly, in a tiny voice.

But most of all, he needed to figure it out, so that Hawking could no longer prioritize Elkshire and the Queen over him.

^^
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He felt so small to her, despite having the full stature of a man. She had been watching him since his return with his Hawking, closely but not obviously. He had suffered a trauma with the boars, with Valeska and the woman who had lost all of her babies — worries of these events did not seem to haunt him at all hours, but it did seem to effect him in small manners that only became apparent as he developed into an adult, and wanted to know more about himself. Or, maybe it was the addition of his newest siblings that caused him to pause as he had, when calling her 'ma.'

Then he said many things that struck her deep in the most empathetic part of her soul. He said he felt invisible, and craved responsibility, to be someone in the pack, a figure that could stand alongside those that he felt distanced from — instead of looming just behind. Olive didn't agree with the things he said, but could see how he felt suddenly shifted from her attentions with the four hungry mouths that were always gumming at her, and mewling for attention. The new mother had felt that she had done a rather good job involving Archon in babysitting responsibilities, and for a moment she allowed herself to wallow in the realization that her first son had still been left wanting. 

How long had he felt this way, to only now be bringing it up? He was so quickly maturing, finding a partner, picking himself up by his bootstraps when shit hit the fan — Olive suddenly worried that she might blink and Archon would turn himself out to the world, utterly unparented and feeling unvalued. That, simply wouldn't do.

In a tone that matched the quietude of his own, the slight woman leant her head down and looked into that dark face, all swirling shades of chocolates and browns. "Oh Archon, my boy," she expressed at first, needing to release some of the emotions she felt simmering in her belly. With puppies, her sense of unconditional love came flowing outward in a cascade of cuddles and kisses. With Archon, she tried to be far more reserved. "You are absolutely wonderful, and such a blessing to me and Tiberius. Do you know that?" she gave a small pause for him to digest her words, but the it was said quite rhetorically. He wasn't required to answer.

To demonstrate such, she continued. "Thank you so much for asking this," she said succinctly, beginning to find that she was incredibly proud of him to recognizing something so astute within himself. "Responsibility is what makes a man, but what that means is different to reach wolf. It's a process of self-discovery." What suited him was likely different from any of the role models he had here in Duskguard, unless he wanted to be an astute guardian or healer-type. 

On that note, "Truthfully, I hadn't known you to possess such a bard's tongue until this moment." she said, rather quietly, unable not to mention it again.

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^^The moment those words left his mouth, Archon regretted them. What could she say that would help him? Would she frown upon for not knowing how to help? He wasn’t like Tiberius and Hawking, who liked being warrior types; buff and ready to come in and protect the weak.

He didn’t like hunting. He barely ate as it was, and didn’t really like scouting. Unlike the lot of his family, he stood out and wouldn’t make a great scout. Not that Archon had ever cared about the differences in his coat compared to them.

He cared about making them happy. He cared about his family, and Hawking, and making a difference, and he didn’t know what he heck he was doing.

Her expression of his name caused him to look up at her with soft, innocent eyes. He wanted to run to her, to bury his face into her chest and just remain there. But he wasn’t a boy anymore, and he needed to suck in those stupid boy feelings.

Isn’t that what Hawking did? He sucked them in and pretended they didn’t exist?

Did he want to be like Hawking?

His Ma called him wonderful, and a blessing to herself, and Tiberius. He lowered his gaze and shook his head to her question.

Responsibility was a self discovery, and it felt like he would never discover anything, an’ then she mentioned his voice. He gave an awkward chuckle. “Do you sing, too, Ma? Do you… want to sing with me?”

^^
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The wind left his sails, and his small tirade petered out quite quickly. If Olive had been able to perceive how deeper they both wished to be with one another at that moment, there was no possible way she would have stayed apart as she had. But, his adulthood was as new a venture for her as it was for him, and she wasn't entirely certain what the 'right' thing to do for him was. Easily, she reasoned that she would give dear Archon what anyone desired when they felt uncertain: a listening ear, and a supportive heart.

He asked her if she sang. "I'm not well practiced," she admitted, though she did utter a tune from time to time. Really, Olive was more well versed in chanting and spellcraft, incantations which oftentimes took on haunting melodies. But alas, no — her sister @Serena had always been the more skilled vocalist, outshining her at every corner. "I would love to learn with you." The corners of her eyes crinkled with the smile that arose at the thought of singing with Archon, and Aries too. Perhaps they might one day even form a chorus.

Then, of course, there was the unmissable opportunity before them. Olive was growing evermore anxious about the upcoming court date, and wondered if having Archon there might be a soothing presence. "In fact, I must go on a trip within the next season, to the Elsewhen. Would you come with me, when the time comes? There's some pack business I think you might enjoy seeing, and being a part of." What's more, if that he would have a chance to see something big and interesting and might give him ideas how he could best serve the pack, singing included.

The pale mother smiled at him, and placed a paw atop his. "We could compose a song together, on the way." Silently, she hoped it wasn't too corny for the man who stood before her, wishing to serve their shared family.

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^^His Ma always had such a way with words and though he knew her musical standing based on the many times he hadn’t heard her song, Archon had thought to ask her anyway. Together, they could create something magical between his voice, and her words — and he could not help but to smile as she offered to learn with him.

His Ma, learning something from him. The mere thought of teaching her anything, anything at all, along with singing with her, put him on a new high. He smiled so widely, and his tail had never moved faster.

He was so excited, his heart beating like a drum in his chest, that he didn’t think he heard her properly. She was going on a trip, and wanted him to come along? He understood taking Hawking or someone more skilled to protect her, but Archon?? “You want me to go with you, on important pack business?”

He blinked, both surprised, confused, but somehow excited. She would go on to confirm her request of his presence, and he would smile with the tilt of his head. “Ma, don’t you know we’re a package deal?” He would take pause, glancing her in the eyes for a moment. He licked his lips nervously, and then said, in his best ‘adult’ voice, to show that he was being serious:

“Olive,” the name felt so weird, coming out of his mouth, that he vowed never to speak it again, unless to a third party individual.. “You are many things. You are beautiful. You are strong willed. You are intelligent — but most of all, and most importantly, you are my Ma. It has been a really good pleasure and experience, growing with you as I have. As we have.

And no matter what happens, or no matter what life throws at us,.. I will always support you, love you, guide you (if you need,) and most importantly, I will always follow you. Like a little brown.. ” shit stain, stuck to her paw or something “... shadow.” Great, now it sounded like he was a clingy boy who couldn’t grow up without his mother. Wonderful.

“What I’m trying to say, and I guess I don’t know how without telling you all those things, heh, is that of course I’ll go with you; I’ll go where-ever and whenever you need me to.” Another pause, as he smiled, dipped his head, and waved his tail as he tried not to think about how truly corny and cheesy he was...

“And I would absolutely love to compose songs with you.”

^^
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The idea seemed to resonate with Archon, and Olive received a warm wave of secondhand happiness as it radiated from the young man. She only wished to for his experience of this emotion of his to grow (and in turn, her own) so when she uttered her offer that he might attend the trial with her, she was gleefully rewarded with a small cascade of endorsements and heartfelt vows. His face was so emotive as he spoke with such conviction, that he could have told her that the sky was red and that rain fell upwards, and she would have easily believed it with all her heart.

Olive and Archon, a package deal! It delighted her to hear, even though she supposed this was the truth of it ever since he started calling her Ma (what was a mother and child if not a package deal?), but it could trace its roots back to something far less definitive. The other ideas he wove were like a spell cast upon her mind, and a balm to her soul. The woman found herself nodding along, too happy to hear such things upon his tongue; they no longer only the unspoken ideas that reverberated in the hollows of her mind.

It would be a lie to say that the Priestess did not feel the tears pinch at the backs of her eyes. In any circumstance where emotions were involved, Olive could be counted on to bring the waterworks. As the lift of her smiling cheeks squeezed the wetness out of the corners of her eyes, she bit her lip and attempted to steel her voice before speaking. Out of all of the things he said she was, his Ma was certainly the greatest. “You always amaze me,” she sniffed, punctuating the endearment with a wipe of her nose on the back of her paw and a she offered a small, inelegant laugh.

The pale Priestess strode towards him, taking a moment to marvel at how he outsized her, now. That hadn’t always been the case. “I don’t thank Little Haven for much,” she said, wondering if it would be a strange thing to procure such a name and memory at this moment. It felt as if that phase of their lives occurred in relative antiquity. “but I am beyond grateful that it gave me you.” She wrinkled her nose at her, needing to angle her muzzle upwards to some degree to look at him. Olive raised an arm and place a diminutive paw upon his shoulder.

“… and benry too, of course.”

benry was an element of their communal lives that they barely spoke about any more. In truth, the thought of the mountain lion was a stinging wound that was difficult to mend — only benry could be the one to heal such a rupture, in a way that Tiberius and the children she shared with him couldn’t touch. They existed in two different places in her soul. “I miss him.” but he hadn’t come with, to found Duskguard. He didn’t want to share. Still, this wasn’t about benry. Archon had love the golden cat too; that’s why she brought it up. “He would be so proud of you,” she shared in a quiet, intimate tone.

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