[brannigan]

sometimes he felt bad. actually, make that most of the time. he felt bad about his choice to leave romelo, he felt bad about his anxiety, he felt bad about the fact that he had no idea where his sister was, he felt bad about his lack of thieving skills. he felt bad about the fact that he aided thieves at all, but that was a whole other problem.

right now, however, he felt pretty good. he had been traveling for a while, and while it was rather nerve wracking sometimes, he was having a fun time. chasing words barely breathed into the wind took up a lot of his spare time, but he didn’t mind. sometimes he liked to pretend that he was some sort of detective.

most rumors turned out to be absolute bullshit, most of the time they were wrong. but this one. he was sure of it. it had to be her. surely there was no other fox with stars in her fur. the magician. that was her name. bellamy would certainly go by that. she had that hair of professional grandeur.

but he was getting nervous. he really was. what if he was wrong? he had heard terrible things about the packs, he could so easily be wrong. swallowing, he approached the border, looking left and right. maybe this was a bad idea. he was being a fucking fool.

flattening his ears, he took a seat. so this was arcana. a place rumored to be full of magical and spiritual folk. the black and gray boy was very intrigued by the whole thing. he had used to help bellamy with her shows back home, so he wouldn’t be surprised to find her here. and if she wasn’t, they’d let him leave. right? they wouldn’t enslave him like some other packs might, right? right? “Shit.”

[BELLAMY.]

Considering their sparse amount of members to spare, even Bellamy was forced to do menial tasks like keep watch of the borders when she wasn’t working with the other members of the leading triad. She didn’t particularly like the job but she didn’t exactly dislike it either. While it gave her time to think, it could also be incredibly boring. It was nice to explore the territory that Fae had decided on, seeing the scenery and what it had to offer. Besides, it also offered the opportunity of gaining more members of their motley pack.

She didn’t often think back to her life after being freed from slavery, leaving that world behind and embracing a new one. She sometimes missed her family, but not often enough to care or bring it up to those around her. For a while, she figured her history had finally let her go. Or so she had once thought. Staring at the large figure standing nervously on the border and observing the familiar patterns of his fur, Bellamy realized that her past was far from giving her up. It was her poor excuse for a younger brother, Brannigan.

Sighing to herself, the starry-furred female picked up her paced saunter. She was sure that once her younger sibling picked her out against the trees, she wouldn’t be able to escape him, so she might as well bite the bullet. Padding over, her quicksilver eyes fell on the marbled pelt of Brannigan as a pleasant smile graced her features. ”Hello, brother mine, a pleasure to see you once again,” she addressed him plainly, voice practically void of any real affection than that she easily faked. It wasn’t hard to fool her younger brother, after all.

[brannigan]

Brannigan, although lost in his thoughts, quickly noticed the approaching fox. he blinked. he blinked again. surely his eyes were playing tricks on him. the marbled fox couldn’t believe it.

bellamy. it was bellamy. it was really her.

jumping to his paws, he struggled to find his voice. ”B-Bellamy? By the stars, is...” he trailed off. ”what are you doing here? I- never mind. that doesn’t matter. what does is that you’re safe.” unlike bellamy’s distaste for him, which could be clear to everyone except himself, he had genuine love for her.

shaking his head, he took a step back. ”Why did you join a pack?” it didn’t seem too like her.

/ gah this is short sorry

[BELLAMY.]

She smiled quaintly at her no-longer quite so little brother, staring up at him with soft-looking eyes. She was glad she had perfected her acting skills in the time since her taking, lest even her gullible brother see through the facade she so carefully displayed before him. "Yes, it's me. Who else, Bran?" she said mock-playfully, bringing up her rather unique appearance. She didn't particularly care much for the male other than the typical sibling tolerance required of her morally so she didn't put too much work into her half-lies.

If Bellamy were honest about her feelings, she would likely feel anger. It had been years and she had heard nothing of her family, not even a lick of information. No one came to beg for her release from that dreary cell, no one tried to find the slavers that had bought her and forced her into labor. And now, when life was finally going right for her, her lousy brother decided to make an appearance and had the gall to ask what she was doing here. However, Bellamy was not honest. So, Bellamy could care less about the crimson-eyed fellow unless he proved useful to her cause.

"Why did you join a pack?"

Her smile broadened, if only slightly. She did not merely join this pack. She was helping it rise from the ashes like a phoenix, burning brighter than its previous iterations. She did not simply join. She coaxed the embers back to life and stoked the flickering flames. Smiling almost cruelly, she replied, "My dear, I did not but join this pack. I helped establish it and now I lead it alongside two others." She knew she was condemning herself to a fate most unpleasant, but the vixen couldn't help the small flicker of pride in her chest

Eyeing her brother carefully with an artful eye, she considered what ranks he could possibly fit into. His size could certainly make him a good guardian or gatekeeper. However, Bellamy knew her brother, perhaps even better than he did. Even after all these years, she could tell he was still the same nervous, crying child that she had been dragged away from that afternoon while Romelo looked on. Flicking her ear dismissively, she figured that Brannigan would likely end up taking up the title of gardener and thaumaturge. And so, the Lunaris placed her bet.

[brannigan]

He was definitely surprised about her height. He had gotten a growth spurt in the time since she had disappeared, but apparently she had not. He smiled softly. He was indeed quite gullible, and rather naive as well. He always had been. When Bellamy had disappeared, he hadn’t really understood what happened. Perhaps he had even blocked some of it out. In any case, he hardly had a grasp on the severity of what had happened. He had left shortly after that, deciding that Bellamy had been off on a little ‘adventure’ for too long and although Romelo hadn’t seemed too concerned, he felt the need to go look for her. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very good at that. The marbled fox had tried his best, but as always, Brannigan’s best didn’t always do very much.

He tilted his head as she spoke. “Woah, Bellamy, that’s really impressive! I could never do something like that,” his voice full of genuine admiration, the naive boy paused to think for a moment. “Um, well now that I found you, I don’t really have much to do… could i possibly join your pack? If that was okay with you of course!” Oblivious to the true feelings of others, as always.

Bellamy was correct in her schemes. He was tall and buff, however mentally he probably wasn’t up to the job of guardian or gatekeeper. He had an affinity for plants and had always loved helping her with her shows, combining those had yielded fascinating results. The effects that plants produced when manipulated in just the right way truly captured his interest and he would be content to do nothing but experiment and create for the sister he was trying his best to be devoted to.

[BELLAMY.]

Brannigan's best had never been enough for Bellamy. He was always too nervous to perform when both of his elder siblings weren't feeling up to the arduous task. He was always too generous, giving away what little they had to those who didn't work for it. One of the few things he was good for was begging because of his big pleading eyes, but even that failed when onlookers noticed their crimson color. He was barely even a mediocre pickpocket, which made the fact that Bellamy had been caught all the more ironic.

"I'm sure if you put your mind to it and worked hard enough you could," she lied, wholeheartedly sure that if her brother ever tried to complete feats such as her, he would chicken out within the first two minutes. But maybe, maybe if he tried hard enough he could. But only if the planets and every star aligned perfectly. She didn't care much for the admiration in his voice, but it did stoke the spark of pride in her chest. Even her inconsequential brother admired her, as he should. Even if she was an abominable sister to him.

Then came the dreaded question. She almost let a frown break her smile but her resolve was too strong. Not even for a moment did her smile flicker, rather it almost broadened once again. "By all means, brother, do as your heart so desires," she declared, tipping her head and gave her renowned lopsided grin. The one from her childhood, where one of her ears tilted downward and had earned her much while on the streets begging. Who could have resisted her when she had been young, after all? Her parents.

"If you do indeed wish to join Arcana's ranks, I suggest striving for the positions of gardener and thaumaturge. Thaumaturges are in my domain and assist in setting up performances, something I believe you would enjoy, correct?" she asked, not at all interested. She cared not for what career her brother pursued, merely concerned with making sure he contributed to the growing pack instead of being a lazy lout that mooched off of them.

[brannigan]

He tried his best to not be nervous. He really did, it just never worked. He never could control when it hit, or why. He didn’t even really understand why most of the time, it was a sad reality. It made him feel helpless most of the time, which frankly he was. He wasn’t good at much, but he didn’t care about that.  He just wanted to be happy, and most of the time, thanks to being oblivious to his sister’s true feelings about him, he was.

“I don’t know, maybe,” he chirped. While Bellamy was an excellent liar (or maybe he was just incredulously gullible), he was certainly not. He never had been good for the more shady career options. He was an honest boy, he got too nervous about lying and it made him mess up.

Not for a moment did he doubt her words. Maybe he was a fool, but if your long lost sister who you had been looking for just showed up and welcomed you into the pack, you certainly wouldn’t doubt her words. It certainly helped that he didn’t truly know her real personality. He grinned at her familiar smile, he hadn’t seen it in so long, it comforted him to see it once more. She hadn’t changed much, had she?

He was so wrong.

“Oh, yes those do sound lovely! I remember helping you with your shows when we were younger and that was super fun!” he nodded enthusiastically. “And gardening does sound quite fun as well, I think that would be great. You always know exactly what to say, Bellamy.” If only he knew how right he was.