I'm Still Standing

Life...was like a dream. He recalled it fondly, his days spent in colored woods, blessed with His light. For a time he left for the shadows, not to hide from Him, but to praise Him. His home...was threatened, and he was but a boy. A boy with the desire to be a man.

So he learned from the only man he knew. Cold. Cruel. Unyielding... but it had been necessary. Tabris and Calhoun were two separate lives, only he never intended to live a lie.

Maybe that's why he awoke here, in the soft embrace of His light once more.

Calhoun's eyes fluttered open, squinting through dappled light that broke the trees. He knew this place. He would never forget this place. Home. Even in the startling absence of scents... At first, he believed it to be a dream. Some...sign from the High Elk, only he wandered too long, and it was too empty to be illusion. The Crown had been abandoned...

Or perhaps cleansed.

The High Elk knew of his intentions. Knew what he desired with Edith and Warwick... but it was only him in a world alone. Maybe that was all it was meant to be. Who was he to question His ways?

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His meeting with the man and his ward hadn't gone well. It took weeks... and even longer than that for the wounds to heal even if the other didn't aim to kill. There were no medics amongst the Elk, and so, he had to nurse his own wounds with shallow knowledge of healing and continue to follow Their path until the very lands they roamed shifted overnight.

It didn't matter. He followed the herd as he always did. The boney crown of thorns atop his head was easier to wear now that he was bigger, and Aldritch wasn't aware that it fit better, as well as his balance with it had gotten better. The thing slid off a lot less now and he was able to wander with the herd with his treasure safety on his crown.

Where they wandered to this time was a surprise to him. The boy, almost a young man now, stood at the borders of the familiar woods, looking onward to the Elk who travelled deeper into the heart with concern in his peach eyes. Was he ready? A quick smell in the air that laid before him and... he smelled nothing but a few wanderers. No one from their claim prior. Had they gone?

Gathering his courage he plotted forward to catch up with the herd; and here they would be for a few days.

During this time Aldritch recognized only one scent that roamed the sacred grounds. One of the bastard children left behind by the wretched heathens, @Weirs of which the druid didn't approach. As far as Aldritch was concerned, he too could leave. A stain on this land yet with his white blotches. Disgusting. Perhaps Aldritch should take it upon himself to rid this beautiful world He made of their wretched bloodline once and for all... but he made no move for it yet.

The Elk grazed and he roamed the familiar woods that now had the ocean at its gates. What he didn't expect was another familiar scent to catch his attention - and toward it he roamed. A long lost brother, perhaps the only one left he could truly call family.

Approaching the now much taller sibling, the shadow sibling approached with his masked face through the trees, calling out in the hollow of the bones echoing his maturing voice. “It's been a while, brother.” Despite the flat tone, he was excited in his own way.

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A voice turned the elken son's ear, shortly followed by a gaze of red. Aldritch. He looked different now, though he wouldn't mistake him. Brother. It was almost comical how long it had been since heard that, even living amongst those who supposedly shared his blood. Their father was never one to treat family as such, but then again, neither had their mother. Aldritch was his brother though. One of few he could claim in full blood. Last he heard, he had shirked the family name and set off on his own.

“Indeed it has. You look—” Well? No. He was as scrawny as he was as a child, only it showed far worse without the puppy fat. Calhoun was far less likely to lie unlike their mother, so he spoke freely, “like you've endured.” And that he had... “They say it is vain to bear antlers without reason.” His judgement was mild. After all, most of his siblings had been fooled by their mother's tongue. It wasn't Al's fault he had been led astray. Calhoun always meant to find him one day. To tell him the truth. The sins he bore were not his to claim, but his to bear in place of their mother. She was a coward who hid her crimes by pinning them on the future of her children.

It seemed the High Elk had decided now was his time...

“What brings you home, Brother? Surely not a family reunion.” His own memory was hazy, the past days a blurr. He had no idea how he ended up back here, but surely Aldritch had come with intention. “Seems as though only we were invited...” The words were muttered under his breath for no one in particular. He was thinking out loud more than anything.

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There he stood in silence for Calhoun to soak in who and what he was looking at. Endured was a good way to put it, it almost made the boy smile. Arguably he would have if he wasn't with the Elk for so long, where his social practice with individuals of his own species was barely present. If he smiled around the Elk they would fear him - and so, he remained stoic. Only a twist of his ears behind the skull moved as he was accused of being vain for wearing the crown given to him.

“I have my reasons.” He began, slowly with a croaking voice. “It's a gift from Him. An old guardian of mine who waited for mine and the herd's return.” And he wouldn't forget the elder Elk who accepted his presence first amongst the herd. Who Aldritch helped to track while the older Elk was slowing down behind them.

What brings him home? First he turned his head toward the wandering herd, unseen at this distance but he knew where they were left and where he would return to after this brief meeting. “The herd brought me here. I have been following them ever since your departure. I guarded them, and they guided me.” If it was up to him, he would't have step foot in this blasted place of cursed memories.

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“Of course. Antlers are always seen as a gift if they cross your path.” But they were sacred. Valuable. Not something you wore every day. That risked damage, both to the relic and to the mind. “I understand you have been misguided from His true lessons, Brother. That is why I am informing you instead of shaming you. That relic should be safeguarded. Save it for special occasions. The wear will mean more than your average day.” Maybe he wouldn't listen. Aldritch always acted as a loner. An outsider. It wasn't surprising. Their mother had driven him away and ignored his needs for the sins she gave him.

Perhaps it was not too late to guide him back. Why else would He have their paths cross now?

“Well then. If you have no interest in sharing your reasons, perhaps you will listen to mine? I think we can both see our mother lost His blessing. She spewed lies and misguided everyone away from His original teachings. Shamed her children for sins that were no fault but her own. Your pelt... is no fault but hers. I am sorry she raised us to believe otherwise.”

“I knew of his warnings, but there was little I could do to prove them to a pack of non-devout. I hoped to take those who could still be saved and show them the truth path. Start over under a new name in His light... restore His glory... But it seems I was too late. The High Elk deemed them all unworthy, but he placed us both here. Surely you see a reason in that?”

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“And where was I supposed to 'safekeep' it during my travels, brother?” There was a undertone there despite the neutrality of his expression. A twinge of annoyance, of 'how dare you' lingering on his tongue. They were always on the move up until now, and to drag it along any other way than on his head seemed damaging... and insulting to do anything but wear the thorns given to him. He held his tongue for now but wanting to remind Calhound that unlike him, Aldritch didn't have the luxury of having a home for a long... long time now.

Of course their time apart also meant Aldritch was unaware of Calhounds own hardships under their father's guidance. Nor did it really matter. As mother's favourite, the shadow only ever saw Calhound as lucky and blessed. Living a favorable life and no matter the little hardships, they were nothing in comparison to what the boy who loomed in the shadows of their family had to go through.

“I will do what I have been until I know there is a place safe to keep it.” Ensuring that he twisted that proverbial knife, that his stay here wasn't permanent unless He gave sign to remain, or if he truly did feel welcome once more in the forest that had birthed them.

But that venom would quickly bring regret. Slender, boney shoulders dropped from their prideful square - and those peach hued eyes softened beneath the hooded mask. Withdrawing his chin to rest on his chest, he fought back the emotions that bubbled up. He was stronger than this. No longer a blubbering child shedding tears for every little reason. So he remained silent for now, listening until Calhound had finished... and the silence remained a little longer while he tried to steady his breath.

A few breaths longer and he spoke softly. Almost apologetic without saying those exact words. “I... am not to blame?” His eyes stung and the young man averted his gaze. Not wanting to be seen and doing his best to remain planted and not fly away with emotions. A sour taste stained the back of his throat as he bit back the tears that threatened to spill. He fought them harder than any hunger he had felt during his time away. Harder than any predator that eyed the herd, weakening them to turn tail even with victory under their belt and the whelp bleeding, limping back to the Elk he guarded. This, was somehow worse. A battle he wanted to win more than anything and yet, that warm sensation still trickled down his cheek.

“It's... possible —” His words were slow as he choked on the feeling in his throat. “That He, through Them, has brought me back to you. To assist you in this mission.” As he spoke the boy lowered his front half. Sliding off the mask that hid the dark stains under his eyes, the wet trails despite how hard he tried to keep them in. He felt the air on his face once more, the sunken features gazing back at his blessed brother with not hatred or envy, but the love he had since the very beginning. “I accept.”

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Aldritch's retort left him wordless. He had a point...a relic could not simply be left anywhere and his brother had roamed long without a home. It seemed unnecessary now that he had returned home to tote the antlers around day to day, but it was not as if he could pry the bone from his head. Surely it would be easy, but he'd sooner break his paw before breaking a relic entrusted by the High Elk. “Your point is fair...I only hope you see that you no longer have a need to carry it so. You are home, and your relic will be safeguarded wherever you see fit.” Wherever Aldritch wished to store the fallen horns.

Something odd twisted in the elken man's stomach as Aldritch visibly slumped and fought the quiver of his voice. In all honesty, Calhoun could not remember a day he had shed tears. His feelings had always been limited in some way, be it to the High Elk or in reserve of the negligence their parents bore. He wasn't sure how to act, let alone steady his brother's sob. “No...No, Aldritch it was never you, brother. I'm sorry I did not tell you sooner...but you must understand I had my reasons. I didn't know who I could trust, but Him.”

His eyes fell to the earth between them as something choked his breath. Perhaps if he had been more trusting he could have saved more from whatever fate crossed their splintered family. “I wished to tell you all. To save you, but I would have sounded mad without proof. Unfortunately, my proof required the High Elk to take matters into his own hooves.” It had been worth it though, had it not? Now His word was safe to spread without fear of snakes or the damage their venom might bring. Without the horns that threatened to pierce his side...much like the fall of his blood's namesake.

Calhoun rose his gaze once more as Aldritch began to settle with his words, a smile spread across his maw with delight. “I'm glad to hear that, brother. Our home shall be one more forgiving. A place where those who sin will be held accountable, and those forced to bear may be redeemed.”

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