Ally Assessments /Nico/

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The large wolf moved steadily northwards, intent of finding his brother. Reece had been unwilling to commit to their cause, but Xanthus had seen through those angry words. When it came down to it, they'd be fighting on the same side. Perhaps he'd need a little incentive...a certain female kin of his came to mind...but that could be arranged. Indeed, Nico had been sent out on that mission! As much as he would have preferred to assess their cousin himself, he was confident his brother would handle the task. He had managed to wheedle some essential information out of Kerberos' little female, after all. So there was hope for his brother's personal skills. The snow he stepped through was slushy, and in other places it was completely gone. Instead, green grass peeked out of the ground, lush feathers that promised good feeding for deer and elk. That in turn boded well for his own hunting, and the male was gratified. Winter was always such a chore. Being of his bulk required a good amount of regular nourishment, and unearthing a lone rabbit from the snow once a week just wasn't going to cut it. No, spring was definitely the better time of year. He kept his sense alert, scanning the flat meadows for signs of his twin. Surely it shouldn't be so hard to find him! Just as he was about to grumble his frustration at not finding his intended target, he found the male behind a clump of bramble bushes. "Nico" he called loudly, moving from his ground-eating trot into a swift canter. He bounced to a neat halt in front of his kin, golden orbs flashing merrily. "Well met, brother." Ah, how good it was to be in Nico's company once more. There was that mutual feeling of acceptance and understanding. Yes, they would have their differences from time to time...but that occurred in any healthy relationship after all. "Tell me, did you find our pretty little cousin?" "Speech"

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Nicostratos

Well tempered, well studied. The male knew that the spring was coming and there would be whispers on the air. Nothing could remain a secret forever, as much as he might have wished it so. With that little bit of reminder on the brain, there was an amused look about his features as he walked across the open space, confident in his path. He would find himself going where he needed to go, and his tail swished from one side to the other as he moved lazily, unconcerned. Kerberos was the only living threat, thus so long as he skirted the Black Coast, he would fair well.

The problem was he had no clue if there was an honest threat or not to be had. There was a fear that had been in the girl’s eyes — he had studied it, he had grown intoxicated with the hunger to suck her up alive and chew her in his jaws. Namiko had been a presence that he had not expected, and his mouth had remained in a hint of a smile for some moments, days, after meeting her. Perhaps there was a reason for her to be so attentive on the matter.

Anger was never far from the surface, however, there was not quite the amount of satisfaction that he would have counted on. His head tipped to the side, and the startling sound that seemed to breathe out of the thin air. The manifestation of his brother seemed to come out of nowhere, and his paws slowed to let his brother catch up to him. There was an eagerness that could not be put aside, and his affection grew in his eyes as he turned his features to study what belonged to him and what he belonged to. His brother was a sight for the eyes, and he swallowed down the relief.

“You look mysteriously well put together,” His humored words were soft on the air, “What happened to having some fun this winter, brother? We’ve been so unbearably task oriented that I don’t have a scratch on me.” Falling into conversation was an instant choice, something that he would not ignore. It was his brother, they could speak without words, and Nico seemed to pull back inside of himself piece by piece. There was no longer a need to act, to come onto the scene with the full force of his personality.

“Nocturne,” Gruff answer was to the point, a bit dismissive on the purpose. “One of Shai’s descendants. Bit of a…” His words searched for the appropriate word to express his distaste. It was filled with discomfort, and sigh was uttered with a bit of a heaviness around the edge. “I’d be wagering she’ll be more a hindrance than an ally, brother. She’s… eer, haunted by father.”

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Xanthus caught up with his brother easily, taking in his glossy dark coat and musing that Nico had survived the winter quite nicely indeed. Not that he would have worried, really. His brother was more than capable of looking after himself. There was, however, the minor detail of their kinship...and Xanthus had always felt responsible for Nico's welfare. In truth, he simply wouldn't know what to do with himself if his twin suddenly disappeared. Going their own ways for stretches of time was definitely possible...but never seeing those orange eyes again? Never hearing that dry voice, and never bringing down a moose together? No, that was simply not imaginable. He fell into step beside the larger wolf, their long legs covering the ground easily. "I was about to say, brother" he commented lightly, golden orbs twinkling as he looked at his brother. "You're looking a lot glossier and in better shape than last winter." In Nico's defence, their last winter had been spent up in the northern mountains with little sensible prey and much hostility. He himself hadn't looked much better - skinnier with the odd patch of fur missing. He was gratified that Nico got straight to the point. This was why his brother was simply the best companion on the planet. He was reliable about all the important things, and he was neither pretentious nor obnoxious about passing on information. Nico could also be a complete fool sometimes, but that was quite endearing when it wasn't annoying. "You mean she hears voices?" Derision laced his tunes as he posed the question. Really, was there any wonder for some descended from Shai? Draco had certainly pulled wool over Zarek's eye on that account. Surely he would have known that Shai was mentally unstable, even if physically she fulfilled whatever requirements one had for good breeding. "I suppose that will complicate matters a little. I suppose she's rather anti-father about it as well? All self-righteous and willing to play the martyr?" He didn't bother hiding his disgust. This was Nico h he was talking to after all. "So we'll need to keep a closer eye out for her. " He fell silent, turning things over in his mind for a long moment. "Did she give you any indication on what her next move would be? If she's running around like a loose cannon, it might be better to neutralise her before things get messy. " "Speech"

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Nicostratos

The frown that remained on his features should have been swiftly replaced by something happier being in his brother's company. The problem that could not be ignored, and his ears pulled back against his head as he attempted to find the wording that should have been said. Nocturne was going to be trouble, he had no doubt about that. There was no one with a reasonable head on their shoulders anymore, it was no wonder that the younger generation of Zarek's breeding lines seemed to be able to come into better power.

It was a relief that the pair of them had thrived through the season so effortlessly, but it was frightening to think that there was need to have things reestablished. His head cocked to the side as he found himself gazing a little more keenly on the male; catching the reaction that came along with the announcement of their cousin's choices and beliefs.

"Voices in her head, almost to the point where I think she can nearly manifest them." His grin was honest in his words, amused with the fact that had come out of his mouth so smoothly. "Definitely the self-serving, righteous type. All down with father and his spawn... which, while we investigate the matter of Kerberos, may be useful, but she may also result in another body to step over in our path." The frown could not be ignored as it dropped back onto his features, and slowly he exhaled with the lack of comfort in the words.

Raising a paw to brush over his eyes, the large male huffed with the realization that nothing was gong to be easy. The needed to get a move on with their searches and make due with the things that were at the forefront. "I think she'll go in guns blazing, she did not strike me as particularly intelligent." His eyes rolled over to his brother's, meeting his gaze with the most pointed look that could not be explained otherwise.

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Xanthus was a sensible fellow. He was realistic and down-to-earth. Consequently, he did not have a little shred of hope for better information regarding their cousin. His ears twitched, catching the incessant chatter of some courting birds as he listened to NIco speak. Voices in the head was a serious matter to deal with. It was a completely new height of lunacy, because you ended up dealing with - essentially - two crazed entities. It made calculating risks and weighing options rather difficult if you didn't know with which creature you were speaking. He grumbled lowly, his tail beating the air twice. "That complicates matters entirely" he murmured, not expecting an answer. They moved on, his mind whirring as Nico liberated more information. "Ah. Very against her Zarek's blood, then." He frowned. The big male didn't really want to have to eradicate entire lineages of his kin. He knew the risks of inbreeding, and he was quite sure Zarek would want his descendants running far and wide. "Did she happen to mention what was particularly terrible about Zarek? With a bit of sweet talking, we may yet be able to dissuade her from a reckless course of making too many enemies. I am certain father would not want us killing kin unnecessarily." She would, as Nico had rightly pointed out, be more than useful in their war on Kerberos. She was not important enough to be missed in case she did get on the wrong side of a claw, and she was probably suave enough to get herself a nice little gathering of followers. Playing the role of the victim to garner sympathy and support was definitely in the female realm of tactics. And in the end, it all came down to numbers. From Nico's inside source, the pack wasn't large, but their males were strong and good fighters. If they wanted any chance of dealing a fatal blow to the pack, they would need enough bodies to hound those males until either he or Nico or potentially Reece found them. That was a different story altogether. "We'll have to hope she doesn't tip our hand too soon and blow our cover." He fell silent, a weary look ghosting over his features for a moment. Goodness, he hated politics some times. "It has unfortunately come to my attention that Reece has gone missing. There has been neither sight nor scent of the male since mid-winter." He viciously crushed a daisy beneath on large paw. "I fear he's wandered into something too big for his anger-clouded heart to deal with." He just hoped beyond hope that the male hadn't been stupid enough to go to Kerberos' coast. As allies, they may have stood a chance. He on his own was going to crumble like a fly within a spider's web. "Speech"

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Nicostratos

Staring at the trees around him, he knew there was a danger in the matter of being committed to someone such as Nocturne. She could be a mess that was just waiting to happen. On the other hand, if Kerberos needed to be neutralized, they would need assistance. With the rumors that he had a pack structure of sorts that were disperse into the works of the Black Coast, it meant there could be a difficulty beyond understanding to have some sort of invasion.

"I informed her that he was a bit like our father in the female-keeping sense, and it seemed to make her have a bit of a meltdown further." His eyes were sparkling as the roar of amusement came up with the reminder. His gaze twisted to his twin, and leaning over with a bump to the shoulder of affection, he dropped the bomb. "Father, apparently, wishes us dead." His blunt words were like a crisp killer of all the sound around him, even the birds in the distance stopped singing their promises.

His amusement grew even more, "She fights with his ghost and his ghost possesses her, Xanthus." His eyes fluttered, and he cackled as he forced himself to stop. The laughter was even more contagious, the absurdity of it was driving him up toward the toward the ground. There was a sparkling shine to his eyes as he forced his head to bow, forcing himself to not wheeze with laughter.

"If he would just stop talking and meddling with my life, things would be dandy, quote unquote." The mockery was soft in his voice, even as eh found himself filled with anxiety. "So perhaps we have no clue what our Dead Father wants, and we can eliminate her with no qualms." Thoughtful voice was still raspy with the chuckling that had escaped him, but still he twisted his body, attempting to pick up on the more serious matters.

"Of course Reece would go missing," The disgust was evident enough in his voice that it caused him to offer a hint of a snarl today the treeline. "Evidently he's not riding our cousin, nor is he feasting on the flesh of Kerberos's land because the male would have been slaughtered and spit back along the ground for you to find." The dryness in his voice could not be denied, and his arrogance brought his head back up to full height. The bulky male looked quite at home passing judgement.

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The slimmer of the two males was forced to draw to a halt as his brother seemed infected by a sudden deluge of mirth. He scrunched his features into a slightly perplexed look, pointed gaze resting on the wheezing male as he spilled the beans. The more Nico spoke, the more his amusement infected Xanthus. At first it was simply a twitch of his lips, humoured at how easily his twin managed to rile others when he wanted to. For all that he had no idea what their cousin looked like, Xanthus could paint a picture of the little lady having a meltdown. It was the mention of her hearing Zarek's ghost that brought the first bark of laughter to pass through his maw.

He let his rump fall to the ground, his front legs splaying outwards slightly as his flanks shuddered with rolls of laughter. "A haunted cousin" he gasped, his tail beating the ground at the hilarity of the subject. "How quaint!" Goodness, things were just getting better and better. Didn't the daft girl realise that ghosts didn't exist? That they were just figments of the imagination? It was deliciously ironic that she was punishing herself with something entirely constructed by herself. It was almost like poetic justice, for all that she had never wronged him.

"I'd rather we not give her the pleasure of such a rapid escape" he managed after a long moment of catching his breath. "There is something rather delicious about watching her make her own life hell. We can always dispose of her if she makes life difficult." Perhaps they might even knock some sense into that thick little skull of hers and make her a useful ally. Goodness knew they needed someone they could trust and actually rely on. Things really weren't looking all that rosy at the moment if he was to be honest.

He was gratified that Nico summed up his own feelings on the Reece matter. Damn, was it frustrating to have the male just vanish from thin air. Not hide nor hair had been seen of him, and Xanthus had been sure to ask around and keep his ears priked. He shook his head with an annoyed grumble. "I feel it in my bones that we'll pick him up from a very sticky situation and then he'll be of no bloody use to us". No, the male wasn't in the least worried about Reece's mental state. He just needed an able body to take the hits if they were going to teach Kerberos a serious lesson in over-stepping his paw prints.

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Nicostratos

Nico knew that his brother would see the light, and there was a hint of a grin that could not be denied on the features of the male when his brother finally joined in. Hooting and going on was more than could have ever been imagined, the stoic male usually so prim and proper on the matter. It proved that Nicostratos was definitely not the crazed, barbaric fool everyone assumed him to be. It was merely a show that he was less on the intelligence front when he was standing beside his brother.

“Well if everything with legs and not male around here wasn’t related to me, I may have opened my eyes to look elsewhere.” His words were slow, the sigh was inevitable on his lips. He sounded distressed with the announcement, and on the other hand there was no surprise. “Or even for you, dear brother. It would be useful to have a female to infiltrate; although my source from the Coast is reliable—“ His words stumbled for a moment, looking for the correct way to put it.

There was certainly no offense meant towards Namiko, but she would be a hindrance in getting out of the Coast without a doubt. She was not the most reliable resource in the world, and her ears pushed back against her head for a few long moments. There was a burning sensation in her chest that could not be denied quite as easily as would have been hoped, and the twisted mouth was in an agreeable disposition.

With Reece gone running off into the hills, Nico was not quite sure where they stood. It was simply not fair to go in without and upper paw, and while the two of them were unbeatable they operated when in one another’s presence as a team. The moment that team broke up, while the other was nearby, there was a risk of faltering. There was just no room on the matter to make things more swiftly happen, and the exhalation was harsh as he grunted.

“It appears that ghosts are the least of our concerns. I’m not quite sure how to proceed, brother.” His gaze twisted to pin on Xanthus, not daring to make the attempt into a darker round. There was a fear in his eyes, just the faintest little hint that ever could have been imagined. “I am not particularly interested in going in with a bunch of turkeys to squash a wild boar.” Words were spoken smoothly, effortless into the air as his head rolled back and he rolled the position they were in through his mind. No, no. Unfortunately things did not seem good at all.

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It was good to laugh. He spent entirely too much of his time being serious, and these brief moments of respite were very welcomed. It gave him a good shake, working out kinks and knots until he was loose and relaxed and ready to face the strain of his life. When the mirth passed by and he was once more in control of his breathing, he focused his attention on the male. "Some female spies would definitely be of use"* he conceded slowly, picking up the odd note to Nico's tones when he spoke of his own source. Was he a little sweet on his sea-side basket-case? Xanthus dropped the matter, in favour of the more important discussions at hand. "Equally, having a male inside would be most beneficial. From what you have gathered, the females aren't always privy to what our mad half-brother concocts." That was, as far as he was concerned, the greatest problem. They had no idea on pack structure, on numbers or future plans. All they did know was that Kerberos was going to be a threat to the land if they didn't contain him to his coastal playground.

He sighed deeply at the honest fears that his brother expressed. The slimmer male let his front flop to the floor, muzzle resting upon his paws. "Frankly, we are at an impasse" he said slowly, staring stonily ahead of him. "Until we have better knowledge of Kerberos' pack; numbers and health, we are in no position to move forwards. The allies we have are tenuous at best. With Reece under the radar and Nocturne a loose cannon, we stand with little more than good intentions." Goodness, how he hated the impossibility of this situation! Why couldn't it be as easy as a quick raid in the dark with Nico beside him? A quick scuffle, and leave Kerberos' body out as a lesson to all who defied them and the peace of the land? But things were not that easy, and he hated it. "For now, I think our only option is to keep our eyes and ears open. Perhaps you can go back to your source, and Nocturne might turn up with some useful information." He closed his eyes. He was clutching at straws now, but what else was there for him to do? He was no idiot. There was no point in starting a war that they couldn't win.

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Nicostratos

Nico knew his brother was not in a position he was eager to embrace, not when there seemed to be such an imminent threat that poised themselves on the horizon. There was too many living kin of Zarek’s, it seemed, and the rectification of the subject seemed all too tedious. It was too much to think, although it made sense. Zarek had not merely come across two females in his time, that was not to be dismissed.

The more frightening thought was just how many more were out there lurking that he did not know about. The very thought of Zarek coming and torturing them from the pits of whatever hell most claimed him to be in was absurd. His father had been loving, misunderstood. There was nothing wrong with having a little bit of darkness within. Sometimes it was just what was needed to help attempt living when the end seemed so near.

Half smile was fleeting, “We will attempt to make the best of a crap shoot of a situation, brother.” His words reassured himself more than anything else, he knew his brother’s mind would be more encased with the frustration. He was confident though, Nico was, in that the end of it all things would work in their favor. Listening - it was not the easiest thing in the world to do, but if it had to be done who were they to argue with the way of the world?

Soon, yes soon, they would have their answers. A waiting game was never well thought out for the impatient, but it was worth it in the end. At least, that was what he hoped in the end of it all.

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Xanthus

He detested feeling so...helpless. For one so used to holding the answers and having things going his way, this situation was akin to a nightmare. For once he felt rather out of his depth, and that in itself was a disturbing thought. He would never let it show, though. Who would take him seriously if he quailed at such a thought? No, it was better that he suffer in silence, putting on a mask of quiet calm and soldiering on as though nothing was making his heart beat faster.

He nodded absently at his brother's words, the faintest of grateful smiles twitching his lips upwards for a brief moment. Nico was making an effort, and he would be rude not to acknowledge the fact. "I think it is time for me to head northwards" he spoke after a long moment of careful deliberation. The only word they had received from the coastal region was Nico's girl...and Xanthus wasn't quite ready to trust someone who's mind was quite evidently a little addled. Nico had mentioned as much when the issue was first discussed - sweet and honest she might be, but that hardly made her good spy material.

He heaved himself to his feet, his features settling into one of grim determination as he rallied warrior diplomat within him. "Perhaps we are lucky and word of us has not spread afar. We may yet hold the element of surprise." He paused for a moment, his brow furrowed as he worked through possible scenarios in his mind. "Depending on the reception of my arrival, I may make a convincing show of wishing to further their aims. That may give us the information we so sorely need." The longer he spoke, the more he found his old demeanour returning. This was something he could do. Playing with words was his speciality; surely this plan was as good as any other he had concocted in the past. He stretched once, working out the kinks in his back before giving himself a brisk shake. "Will you join me for a little way, or have you business elsewhere? Even as he asked the question, the large male was already heading towards the coast with purposeful strides. They had dallied enough - now was the time for action.