It had been months since his fight with his brother in arms. Magnus had spent the remainder of summer and much of the autumnal season couped up in the healers den recovering his strength. To his credit, however, the years autumn was a short one, as winter persisted in its arrival. Only two weeks earlier he had been allowed to return to his own den, but still he had required daily physical therapy to regain the full range of motions in his leg. Now a light snow blanketed the pack clearing and he had finally been deemed fit enough to return to his duties. He wouldn't venture far, not all the way to the moors. Prey was becoming rapidly more and more scarce and he didn't want to exhaust what remained. Perhaps just a few fat rabbits would do. Or a fat beaver if one was still lurking about.

He set off just out of earshot of the main encampment, ears at attention for any noise to point him in the direction of some rabbits. It seemed his presence was enough to frighten his prey into scurrying about. It darted from the underbrush, attempting to return to its warren before death do could come knocking. He drew back, tensing the muscles in his legs and launched himself up. He came down with a force, nose and forepaws digging into the snow. The hunters jaws sifted through the snow, cleanly picking up the rodent. His head shook violently, snapping it's neck easily. Mouth full of flesh and fur, he gave a bloody grin, pleased with himself. He thought to return to his den to thoroughly enjoy the meal.body hanging limp from his maw, the copper male set off at a light trot for the pack clearing.

The smell of fresh blood roused the male from his thoughts. He had been thinking of the new warriors that he had met and their potential as fighters. Early winter had graced the land with its presence, cloaking the branches of trees in white clumps of snow and peppering the ground with pristine white. Tye had been exercising daily to restore his body back to the best condition possible. It was almost there. He stretched, easing out the kinks in his muscles. Angling his head, he reached up to rub his ear with his back paw idly. It itched at random intervals which was to be expected. It was a miracle his ear had been able to be restored. Shaking his head and rolling his shoulders he flexed his neck from side to side in order to release some tension in the muscles. He glanced to the side. An empty space as it were. Soon he hoped it would be filled with another. With Cliche. The future wasn’t something much that concerned him. But her question she had asked at the healing den had caught him off guard. He hadn’t given any thought to pups. All he knew was that she made him feel something. And that having her beside him made him feel good. He wanted to hold her beneath him, to breathe in her scent and see her smile every day. And most of all, he wanted to be the one that made her feel good. The idea of Steele getting to do that, even if he was his Alpha, made him want to tear him to shreds and feed him to the vultures. He wondered though, if he did fight his Alpha and died doing so (for even if it cost him his life he wouldn’t let her get hurt), if Cliché would end up doing what every other fae seemed to be doing. It didn’t sound like she would one bit. But Tye wouldn’t have it past the other male to force her and who would protect her then? He was in a situation that had his back up against a wall. He would have attacked his Alpha in the act, sparing him no mercy from his fangs and claws. It would’ve given him no pleasure but Cliché was important to him and the only one he would sincerely defend with all his heart. Pushing those thoughts out of his mind he stepped out of his den, dust that had gathered onto his fur falling off to join the powdery snow on the ground. His expression had been neutral but with those heavy thoughts, grew cold and dark. The slight wrinkle in the top of his muzzle and pulling back of his lips revealed teeth that would shred and tear. Tye wasn’t interested in power, just survival. He didn’t care to control others. He didn’t need the ego boost.

His expression smoothed out as he exited the den completely, revealing his dark form. Winter made him too visible. His black fur clashed with the white of the snow well. And his size, which had grown considerably in height and muscle mass, was a hindrance in these circumstances. Larger targets only meant they were easier to hit. He would have to work on his stamina. It was relatively high at the moment as it was. A lifetime of fighting and gruelling, relentless training did that to the body but age had a way of reaping strength and vitality. Tye hoped he would still be as strong and enduring in terms of stamina as he was at the moment when he reached old age. The first, was not so likely but the second was possible with continuous effort. He raised his muzzle to the air, sniffing it and headed in the general direction. As he approached, he smelt a familiar scent. Magnus. The only other wolf he would probably trust besides Cliché. He saw the other male nearing the main area, a dead rabbit hanging from his jaws. Tye’s piercing eyes ran over his form, searching for any visible damage from their fight. The prouder part of him almost wished he’d left some damage to show he was better but the kinder part that had been thawed from a stone heart was checking out of nothing but care. Whoever had healed him had done a good job. He could walk but from experience, the leg that he’d broken probably wasn’t still totally healed. Tye watched him approach for their paths would meet directly and when he neared him, he said gruffly, “Hello brother. You’ve healed I see.”

A voice hailed the Lead Hunter from his return. His great head turned, jostling the carcass in his maw, the fat rabbits legs slapping lightly against cheek. Fiery orbs spotted the dark form of Tye, blue eyes staring back as they examined one another. Magnus was astounded at the brutes recovery. His ear had been restored almost to its former appearance. The healer he had sought out was very good. Searching his mind he had remembered that there was some goings on between the Warrior and Healer Cliche. Another thought triggered. Tye was no longer a Warrior, he now stood strong and proud bearing the title of Lead Warrior. It was well deserved. The dark male was a very capable fighter.

Magnus was a wolf still very full of his own pride. But he knew he had acted rashly. In his months of recovery he had had a lot of time to think. ALOT of time. And in that time he had realised how stupid he had been. Plus Chiara had mentioned it a few times. But in any case he was remorseful for harming his friend, if they could still be called friends. He trotted to the male, dropping the rabbit so he could speak. "Tye..." He trailed off unsure of where to begin. So he decided to answer his statement first. "Yes, I have healed thanks to Cheshire. And it seems you have been well cared for. I assume Cliche was the one to fix your ear?" He dropped his head in a sigh, then raised it once more. There was no point delaying what had to be done, and no easy way to admit you were wrong. "Tye, I am sorry about your ear, and any other injuries I caused you. The fight was my fault, I acted rashly out of anger at someone else. I made you my scapegoat and it was wrong. I don't expect your forgiveness, nor even for our friendship to return to what it was. But an apology must be made all the same." He stood silent, his head held high as a strange feeling overcame him. One akin to a weight begin removed from his chest.

His new rank was something that he hadn't given much thought of save for the time when he was sought after for training or among other warriors. He was aware of his title and what it entailed and that was that. He would continue to push himself to prove that the decision was justified. As it was, he did consider himself entirely competent. In a way, fighting was the only things he knew and perhaps the only life as well. There were pockets of his memory reserved for other vital aspects of life such as healing and hunting but fighting was where his heart lay. So he would stand tall on that basis. And time had a funny way of eroding anger and hatred from the past. It had smoothed out. Tye wasn't sure what Magnus was feeling. He knew the copper male was proud so maybe he wouldn't admit he was wrong. Tye himself wouldn't budge as he had been the one that'd been attacked. Or maybe the Lead Hunter's fury had subsided enough for him to look back at the situation with a clearer mind and see how foolish he had been at the time. Tye listened to his old friend's words. The one who he considered a brother of sorts. Brothers fought, that was nothing new. But when the dust settled, they would still be the same. They would still fight for one another and protect one another as much as they fought each other. They would still be pack-mates. Friends and brothers-in-arms.

"Yes she did," Tye nodded. He couldn't help but keep the pride out of his voice in those three words, smiling slightly. He kept the name Cheshire in his mind. Most likely, he would see this mysterious healer around. The Lead Warrior's face flickered, his blue eyes lightening in sympathy as the other dropped his head in a sigh as well as the hare and raised it, apologizing to him. Tye said, placing a paw on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort, "It's alright. My ear has healed. My leg is fine. I am not a lame wolf earless and hobbling around waiting for the crows to pick my eyes clean. I forgive you Magnus." He paused, “Our friendship will not be the same as time as changed us both but you are still my pack-mate and the only one I feel is closest to a brother. A fight is a fight and what is done is done. The one question that I have is what was troubling you so much that you mistook me for our Alpha and wanted to kill me? I have my suspicions from your rant but I am not you so I need you to confirm them.”

The large wolf paw on his shoulder felt odd and awkward. It wasn't his nature to be so touchy feely, especially with another male. Only Chiara could see that side of him. To all others he was a bastard. Gruff and standoffish. A little rough around the edges. Tye was the only male he would even consider opening up to. It might be a good thing for him to discuss his woes with another male. Plus, if Tye had any inclinations of taking a mate this season, it was best he be warned of the consequences.

"Tye, I'm telling you this, one: because I trust you. But also two: because this may affect you as well. You know about me and Chiara, of course. Well I wished to take her as my mate. That day in summer, I had just returned from Steele's den where I asked his permission. I was mad and upset because of what he asked of Chiara. The Alpha requested Chiara be at his den on the first night of her heat. He intends to give her his seed and have her raise their pups. I am to help her raise the bastards and should any die, the penalty is my own life. And only if the Alpha sees fit may we then be mated next winter." He paused to take a breath, molten eyes looking earnestly into his brothers.

"Brother, I tell you this because I fear for your relationship with Cliche. Chiara is not the only one the Alpha has requested. It appears he wishes to take Katyusha as his mate. And I have heard rumours that he has also propositioned our Beta. If you have any intentions of taking you Healer as a mate, I suggest you wait and save yourself this anguish, this living hell I am in."

Tye removed his paw, setting it back down on the ground. He had never shown much sincere emotions towards others, much less in front of another males. Most of all, he had never allowed another to see any part of him that was vulnerable or opened himself up to reveal what he was truly thinking. Too many times it’d back-fired on him or the ones he had trusted had turned around and ground that trust into dust and ash. He had grown accustomed to thinking everyone would betray him the moment he placed any kind of loyalty in their paws. But that also meant he had learned how to ascertain or at least roughly guess what the motives were behind words and actions and if they were ill-intentioned or good-natured. And if a wolf was being at least a little sincere and carried a modicum of truth in his or her words. What Magnus was saying matched up with his past actions. Tye would have congratulated the other male, for he respected Chiara in the end and thought that out of everyone in the pack, Magnus was as good a match as any for her. And it seemed that he’d be happy with her. Then the onyx male’s eyes narrowed slightly as Magnus continued. A low growl rumbled from his throat and he muttered, “You’ve made a deal with the devil it seems. But it doesn’t surprise me that he thinks only of himself. His pups, as it were, would be in order to safe-guard his safety from a coup or assassination attempt so it would make sense they were his own. It doesn’t make any sense to kill you. Even if I wasn’t your friend, I wouldn’t have you dead if you were still useful to me.” He snorted, turning his head to the side as Magnus continued again, revealing more wishes of the Alpha. He had joined the pack for this? This tyranny? An Alpha who would mate with another fae, then not take responsibility for his own actions and leave his dirty work for others to take care of? Then punish the innocent for doing something that should be his own duties? For an indecisive Alpha who couldn’t seem to decide between three faes so instead chose to mate with all of them instead of pursuing one and only one. Greed couldn’t be satisfied after all. Tye had brought Katyusha here because he had thought her to be a valuable asset. He had seen her interest in Steele at the den which now made it seem like she had just been using him to get to Steele.

She may be his superior but because of that she would never get his earnest, sincere respect. It would be like if he used her to get to an Alphess, then acted hostile towards her and mated with the Alphess, then threw her away like she was a piece of rubbish. Perhaps the pair deserved each other. They seemed incapable of thinking about anyone other than themselves and were as bad as each other. And it seemed as if they operated solely on their own desires and needs which was emotional and selfish, a combination that Tye had experienced from others far too many times. There was no reasoning with wolves like that as they wanted everything their way with no compromise unless it was in their best interests and nothing else. What great wolves. With what he had heard and what he had experienced, anger was probably the appropriate response but anger would do nothing right now and it was not Magnus he should be angry at. There would be time next season. There was no need to rush, especially if it was dangerous to ask and would result in something that would harm Cliché. Tye opened his eyes. For a moment he allowed himself some kind of window into what he was thinking. Magnus had done him a favour that he hadn’t needed to and for that, Tye would thank him and if there any been any feelings of anger towards him, it was evaporating. He was grateful for his warning and said, “Thank you my friend, my brother. I will heed your words and I am sorry for breaking your leg but my life was in danger.” He chuckled, “I couldn’t let you kill me.”

Occ: So hug now?

Ooc - oh yeah. Bro hug.

Magnus was glad when the distance between them resumed once more. The Lead Warrior's anger was easily apparent as he let slip a growl. As soon as his warning was complete he sat on his haunches in front of his friend, watching him process the news. What Tye had said made sense. Why kill off your best hunter? Was Steele really so afraid, his position so precarious, he would risk the starvation of his pack just to hold onto a title a little longer? If this was indeed true, then it might not take much to dethrone the Mad King. Had he not considered the repercussions of his actions? Magnus had seen it all before in the past and he could not allow history to repeat itself.

If Steele intended to mate every female that entered his pack then soon the pups would all have some relation to the Alpha. The gene pool would shrivel down to a minimal diversity. There would be inbreeding and deformities. Soon madness would descend upon the younger generations of the pack. He couldn't go through that again. He would kill the mongrels before they grew to majority. Or if he had the chance, he would kill the Alpha before his plan came to fruition. He would not be the coward again. He would not flee the lands in search of something better. He would cut down the tree by digging it out at the roots. It was treason, he knew, but the alternative was far worse.

His thoughts were interrupted by the others apology. He chuckled himself. "Of course, of course." He nodded. "You're my brother, Tye. Well, as close to a brother as I've ever had."  He raised himself back on his hind legs, wrapping his forelegs around the dark males neck in the approximation of a hug. But he immediately felt even more awkward and dropped back to sitting, staring at the snow churned beneath his paws. "So, uh, we're-we're good yeah? Cool, cool." He gave a small smile, the brotherly-love becoming slightly tense and awkward.

Tye suspected at times that he was possibly the only sane one in this pack or perhaps he wasn't as mad or depraved as the rest were. He didn't quite know if Magnus was like the others but he knew enough to know that he was more sane than the rest. It was then that another thought occurred to him. If Steele's wishes were to mate with the three then at the minimum there would be three litters to deal with. As of the moment, they had one hunter being Magnus. One wolf could not cover nine hungry stomachs with full efficiency. And the rest of the pack were as usual, tasked with other duties being the care and healing of their future pups to focus completely on hunting. He had no doubt that everyone else that didn't occupy those roles could alternate between them respective duties to feed the children. But that left them spread too thin and unable to do their respective duties to the fullest. This meant that ultimately, it was not an efficient plan or even effective if the repercussions were taken into consideration. It would also be perfect for Helidos to attack since their warriors' attentions wouldn't be fully on defending their territory. A slip in attention would be the opportune moment for a cunning hunter to attack through stealth and espionage. He had grown to care for his pack-mates, some more than others. Not that they would ever know. They didn't need to. It was better they thought of him as what he supposedly was, a brutal bloodthirsty fighter with a killer's instinct and no mercy for the weak.

If it came to it, he would help save those who could be saved and only those that wanted to be saved. Tye nodded to the copper male, starting to say his goodbyes when the other raised himself and wrapped his forelegs around his neck in what he thought was a hug. It was slightly awkward but he understood the sentiment behind it. It was something new for him though and probably for Magnus as well. A hug without the intention to kill or harm him was a new sensation. The obsidian male himself wasn't so sure how to react so he just settled for reaching up and patting the back of the other male's neck. Looking to a spot to the side of him, the male shifted slightly adjusting his weight from one to the other and mumbled, Yeah we're cool." He nudged the rabbit back towards Magnus with a paw and said, "You can have this, for you or Chiara. I'm not hungry."