In Dire Straits - Wrong turn, maybe. ((open))

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As far as his family knew, or cared, Sabre was dead. As were all the children of Blade and Dagger to his knowledge, even the pair could be. Their bones long rotted deep in Alteron's soil, territory that ruined lives. Ruined everything. Ground he had slipped away from and sworn to never return to if his blood still stood on the throne, if even then. Could a place so corrupt truly change? Time changed all, but some things had poisonous thorns so deeply wound they would never untangle the bloody mess.

The old rose garden surely had overtaken them all, with her poisons and disgusting mind tricks. Was she dead too? Or fucking whoever stood on the throne now? He snorted at the thought of each of the members of old blood, as he stood on the border that made his stomach churn. Why had he brought himself here? It began with a wander from the rut of neutral life, that turned into a long trek without a destination, that quickly became a burning curiosity of the fate of the pack that threw the child away. A child of old royal and noble blood, that had meant nothing when Blade made his choices to cull the entire litter.

Dagger had done what she could to stop it, shuffling the few children she could away and whisking them over the borders to safety... Then leaving them after some time to a fate that could have been worse than a quick snap of the neck. He'd been alone as long as he could remember now, nervous, jumping at the sight of another wolf when they happened upon one another. Keeping hard to himself and planning existence around avoiding others.

This late hot afternoon Sabre stood on the border in silence, the scents were unfamiliar and had grown over generations of leadership he'd skipped. Lingering scents of that old blood remaining, but not the set he grew from exactly... Relatives, distant perhaps. He wouldn't stay, only stand here a while longer... Thinking of the memories from this place, breathing the humidity in, standing frozen for far too long. Maybe someone would change his mind.

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The humidity and heat of Alteron's summer seasons literally felt like wait a slow and torturous death. Needless to say, Lana hated it. From the flat lands, she could barely make out the fog that clung desperately to the mountains that separated the land, the moisture that made her joints cry out and ache , and she growled bitterly to herself for it as well.

But she tried her best to ignore it with micro-managing instead! Ah, what a nice little past time. Something good to make sure all the gears in this old machine were still working as they should. In her years of experience, some authoritative figure steps in and either all hell breaks loose because whoever they're shadowing is unprepared, or you're left pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of your ranks. Hopefully, the latter, of course.

As she reached the borders however, there was no page there, at least not yet, though there was someone waiting at the bridge and she squinted. Bright eyes taking in fur color and what little she could see of their face, no one she knew. Hmm, she waited and waited some more, his stance is what finally caused her to curse softly under her breath and step forward. He seemed uncertain, hesitant, and almost flighty? As she neared him with her slow hobbling, limp, she could see it in his eyes just barely. Fear? Anxiety? She couldn't quite place it, but knew the familiarity of the look.

A patch of sunlight warming her back as paws met the wooden bridge and she regarded him with a tired gaze. "Good afternoon. Is there a reason for why you're just standing on our borders?" She quirked a brow, claws tapping as she waited, careful to not speaking the pack's name just yet. That fear never far behind.

The hot summer sun always made it more difficult for the husky man to navigate through the forest, the humidity annoying him to no end. Orcrist had better things to do however than lay on the cool cobblestone of his tower and laze graciously with only himself. His mind wandered too much for that, and it tended to wander to darker things. Things he didn't care to think of and it eventually drove him out into the summer heat where he could listen to the humming cicadas joined in with the chorus of birds.

The various paths led him to different parts of the territory, yet always ended up at the moat. One of Azuhel's inventions that Atlas had helped set in motion. As much as he hated his own work and there were a few pages left to do the job for him, he figured since he was there that he would run around the edge to quench his boredom. It wasn't long before he found something interesting that made him move forward and stand beside the much smaller Hierophant.

"Well, well..." he said, glancing to the nervous boy. He hadn't seen those patterns or that long lost family in some time. "If it ain't a ghost of the past. Wonderin' where some of yah went." Orcrist smirked some, scoffing and looked down at the woman beside him. He still nearly laughed at her attempt to intimidate him with words of loyalty, but was he not one of the last remaining elder lines? Everyone else either left or died, but ah, this one scuttled back to them.

"What made you crawl back home?"

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The longer he stood, the greater the dread bloomed, popping up behind his eyes as he leaned forward to stare down at the moat. That hadn't been here before, nor the bridge was stretched in front of him. It called to him like a siren's song, beckoning him to move closer curiously. Throat squeezed, humidity making deep breaths to calm himself unsatisfying and disappointing. Who had dug this monster of a decline, obviously intended to keep people out... but more so in his mind, to keep those trapped inside where they ought to be.

Someone began to hobble across that bridge, this would be when Sabre should really book it out of here. It was clear they'd be unable to catch him with that injured gait, though he waited for her to approach. Half out of sheer anxiety holding him pinned where he was, half wondering if she would offer information of Alteron's status. "Good afternoon. Is there a reason for why you're just standing on our borders?" In this moment he didn't appear brave as he'd felt wandering here alone, curiosity overridden by anxiety that bubbled up to his face.

"I... I was born here." He'd state roughly, brows furrowed in regret of this whole ordeal. "StillAlteron? Came quickly and muddied into one word, head snapping quickly to someone approaching from behind the orange female. He was large, round, and the confidence that left him made Sabre want to shrink. He didn't though, only stared in shock at the markings of the male. Drags of his Grandmother's eye markings, Scimitar's colouring. Surely he was related. It didn't take long for him to put the pieces together based on Sabre's appearance either.

"Well, well... If it ain't a ghost of the past. Wonderin' where some of yah went." A hard swallow, eyes didn't leave him. Merely began comparing his own appearance to this guy, fear gripping him enough to lower his stance slightly. A nervous laugh pulling an odd smile to Sabre's face. "What made you crawl back home?"

"Curiosity of Alteron and my, I'm guessing our, Family's fate. Who do you belong to? Old blood?" Softly spoken, taking every ounce of his courage to get the words to leave his tongue. Eyes raking back to the orange female now, would she speak up again? She read him well it seemed, the fear had nails in him, and for some reason he didn't run. Probably a mistake, considering this relative came to the door to greet him... Though, if most had been gone, could things have actually changed?

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Eyes snapped to greet her and she was sure the boy would bolt any second, I know that look, I know that stance. It was like a blast from memory's past. A sheepish, unassuming little priest looking to make her family proud, in a place full of monsters. Though she met this boy with rehearsed fondness (if you could even call it that), but bitterness had long took root in that husk of a heart.

She looked at him as if she were looking through him, amber gaze piercing through and meticulous mind ever pushing onward to the next useless(ful) thing. We are the isle of misfit toys, Alteron would cry out. Perhaps he was expecting her to give him a reaction as he mumbled out quickly that he was of here and that he knew of the pack's name. However, her expression remained neutral, unchanging. "That's unlucky." She said plainly. "It's a dreadful place to be born in." Though mine wasn't much better.

But thunderous steps came from behind, shaking the wood of the bridge and the ginger woman turned then, when she noticed his body language had changed noticeably. Ah, Alteron's grandiose nobility in action. How aw-inspiring, how... wretched. How simply wretched, the Chariot coming to stop by her side and she'd feel her lip curl on instinct in disgust of his company. Ears flickering as he opened his mouth like some raucous crow. Funnily enough, as amber eyes watched Orcist speak, Telana had come to picture him as a fat fly with tiny little wings. Hmm, a thought to revisit later.

The Hierophant would rest her gaze back to the boy then. "It's still Alteron. More or less." She gave a shrug, though her tone was light and distance. Eyes would cut back to Orcist then, a brow raising at his previous remarks. "Is this one family to you? Pardon, I can't exactly spot the resemblance. He's so thin, and you're so.... so..." Eyes would look Orc up and down. "Well, you know." Not above being petty in the slightest.

Though those eyes would snap back to the younger male and she'd sigh. "Your name?"

Olive eyes kept to the boy for the most part who now lowered himself realizing that Alteron was still very much standing. Much had changed since the days of Scimitar and Blade, after all it was plucked from them by Ajax which started the chain reaction of the curse of merry-go-round crowns. "You could say that, yeah." he said, shrugging a hulking shoulder then leaned toward Telana. She may have been some sort of queen, but she forgot some sort of logic.

The lord of the moat could easily just toss her in.

"It's very interesting that you insult a man who is nothing but loyal to you and big enough to shove you off." Orcrist didn't mind the fact that he was called fat, but he wanted to remind her just how vulnerable she was. It was unwise of her to come here to the borders, especially alone. Him and his pages were the comfortable barrier between the triarch and the dangerous outside. "But if you must know, I'm of old blood." he stated, looking back up at the boy.

Just as you are.

"I'm guessing you're Blade's. And here I thought you were all dead." Alteron after all was cruel to children. Expectations and all of that, it was a miracle any came to fruition and fattened the ranks. His own children suffered, just as much as Azuhel's brood did. Such a shame.

Once the boy stated his name, Orcrist would give a smile, one with sinister warm undertones. Eyes were sharper, glinting in the light. "Welcome home, nephew."

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She remained stoic, barely reacting to learning Sabre had the misfortune of being born in Alteron. "That's unlucky. It's a dreadful place to be born in." Not that he expected a reaction, or to be told it was a pity he was born somewhere that was obviously a terrible place for children... Or anyone if you weren't deemed good enough. Sabre kept his face straight, surely Alteron had some benefits, such as it's army and tactics to brainwash it's members into loving the humid jungle. "You could say that, yeah." Spoke the larger relative, leaning into the smaller female... Wouldn't he just clear knock her right over?

"It's still Alteron. More or less. Is this one family to you? Pardon, I can't exactly spot the resemblance. He's so thin, and you're so.... so... Well, you know." At this point he followed Telana's pattern of eyeing up the chunky male, and waiting as they exchanged sass. "It's very interesting that you insult a man who is nothing but loyal to you and big enough to shove you off." A small smirk formed as he watched their dynamic, stepping backward slightly to give himself more space. Much more humour living this far in Alteron than Sabre had ever recalled, though he'd been a terrified child.

"But if you must know, I'm of old blood. I'm guessing you're Blade's. And here I thought you were all dead."

Swallowing hard, the smile sunk down at the name of his Father, disgust begging to lunge forward onto his face. "They are all dead." He'd utter matter of factly, knots forming into his stomach as his fur began to stand "Blade slaughtered them all, probably... Dagger as well. Is he here?" A more difficult admittance and assumption to voice, feeling panic gurgling like acid in his throat. Was he here?

"Your name?"

"Sabre." He choked through the heat spreading through his chest and face, feeling himself zone out into his paranoid mind. "Welcome home, nephew." Without any thought, Sabre numbly walked forward toward Orc. As if to allow him to lead the way. Walking straight back toward the rushing water of hell, time would only tell if Sabre had learned how to swim.