I've been away for a long time | intro

[kinglykingstone]

Other than his outburst on the beach with his brother, Tree had been nearly untrackable. Outside of the occasional sound of sobbing, the kid couldn't be found. He hid from stranger's gaze, snarling and snapping at anyone who came near for days. The kid had just lost his parents, he had seen what had happened to them. His brother may have been able to forget but, he couldn't. Every moment would loop in his head, paining him.

Part of him knew he shouldn't do this, shouldn't avoid or lash out at those who offered him solace. But how could he trust them? Had did he know they wouldn't hurt him? Without his parents to keep him safe and protect him, what was he going to do? Originally he'd wanted to run, to flee and go so far he'd never be seen by anybody again. But, he couldn't. He would never make it and he couldn't loose his brother so quickly. His brother was all he had left.

When the winged canine had awoken that morning, he'd made a decision. He would try, for them. He would go out there and try to actually talk to those he'd kept his distance from. He'd crawl from the small den he'd dug himself in the sand, one he often had to scoop falling sand from. He emerged slowly, purple eyes glancing around nervously. He took a step, then another, and another. Confidence grew with each step, until- thump! Small paw caught on rock, sending the shepard sprawling. His head bounced against the sand, sending a cry from the small pup, paws coming to cover muzzle as tears flowed out of closed eyes.

[R. AIZA]

[align=center][div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify;"]aiza was never one to be compassionate, but he was no monster. he was never the best at calming his own kid, but that didn't mean he couldn't help when one needed help. walking down the beach, he found himself stopping just behind the child, large head cocked to the side as he lowered himself into a crouch, shuffling forward so that he was next to the child. he hated the sound of crying, that much was obvious by how his ears pinned back against his head.

"what are we crying about, kid?" he asked, settling that big head on his down on his paws. the kid didn't look injured, but you never know. "you good? or should i go calling for someone?"

---

[align=center]"speech" | thoughts | normal

[RHINESTONE.]

LEADER ❝ RHINE ❞ PALMCLAN

When Rhinestone had initially met Tree, he had been taken aback by how hostile the pup was, although he had been aware of why in the moment. After all, the brightly colored canine hadn't been around for when the conversation had started, and had assumed that Rhine and Toadwhisker were threats. It wasn't the most unreasonable thing in the world, although the tom hadn't been able to help the slight frustration he had held with the whole situation. He just hoped he hadn't scared the kid too bad when he had ended up responding. Rhine hadn't spoken with any hostility, but he had briefly had an annoyed look on his face, and he didn't want that scaring Tree off. So, when the canine went missing for some time after the two groups had merged, Rhinestone had assumed that was exactly what ended up happening. He had felt guilty as all hell about it, and had gone searching for Tree more than a few times since the boardwalk group had come to Palmclan, but the child was surprisingly good at evasion, and Rhine's efforts had come up short.

Thankfully, it seemed as though he would no longer have to continue frantically searching. Not so thankfully, it seemed as though Tree wasn't doing so well. The faint sound of sniffling and the beginning of tears had drawn Rhinestone over, and initially, upon seeing Aiza, he had thought the other had caused Tree to start crying. However, when he heard the other's words to the pup, he settled down a bit, the fur along his spine laying flat once again. Making his way over, Rhinestonestar looked Tree over carefully, a small frown pulling at the edges of his muzzle. Rhine spoke first to Aiza, his tail twitching anxiously behind him, "It seems like he may have fell..." He then questioned Tree, lowering himself down a bit as well, "Is that what happened? Where does it hurt?" He was trying to be caring, trying to communicate to Tree that Rhine – and by extension Palmclan – would be there for him in times of need.

NEVER OPENED MYSELF THIS WAY
LIFE IS OURS, WE LIVE IT OUR WAY

— Reggan

[METEOR]

“Hey, don’t be mean to my bro! Oh, nobody’s being mean, carry on.”

Quasar skidded to a halt next to Rhinestonestar on the sand, kicking up sand and dirt and junk. He tilted his head to the side, squinted, and added, “You okay, Tree?” He sounded worried--not just because Tree banged his nose, but because he hadn't seen his brother in a hot minute.

© LEXASPERATED

[kinglykingstone]

As others approached, the pup lifted up, rubbing his muzzle. He would look at Aiza for a moment, huffing through the tears. "I jus- I just, hhhh" he let out a low whine, finding that the amount of crying he'd been doing had brought on a small headache. "fell..." he said, not feeling like proper full sentences anymore. His eyes squeezed shut, not seeing nor hearing Rhinestone's approach.

The sudden voice would cause the pup too jolt, opens flying back for a moment, loud whimpers leaving the started shepard. He didn't have long too process the leader's voice before his approached, a bit of light in the child's stormy minds. Whining still, he bolted for his brother, nearly ramming against the other canine. He would come to a sitting stop, shoving his face against his littermate's neon fur. "Scared... missed you... fell..."

[METEOR]

From Tree’s impact, Quasar’s lungs fwooshed all the air out. The vaporwave mess wrapped an arm around his brother, pulling him in for a hug. His breathing recovered, deep and smooth, and he rested his head on Tree’s shoulder.

“I missed you, too.” Blue eyes blinking rapidly, he squeezed tighter. “I’m glad you’re okay. It’s okay.”

No, it wasn’t okay. Their parents were dead. Quasar didn’t know how to fix dead, but he needed to do something, anything about the ache in his chest. But hugging his brother was helping. In a small way. He inhaled, breathing in his brother’s scent and the lingering traces of their parents. Aching all over again, Quasar still didn’t know how to deal with any of this.

But he knew one thing. He’d be strong enough for the both of them, if he had to be. Tree needed him.

“What’re you scared of? I’m here. We’ll deal with it together, okay?”

Quasar glanced to Rhinestonestar, silently asking for help when he didn’t know how to ask verbally.

© LEXASPERATED

[RHINESTONE.]

LEADER ❝ RHINE ❞ PALMCLAN

Quasar's silent plea for help did not go unnoticed by Rhine, paralyzing as it may have been. Rhine had enough trouble with his own family issues, and trying to help out with the ones of others was difficult, to say the least. Despite this, the tom didn't want to just leave Quasar hanging, knowing that the pup just desperately wanted to know what to do. Attempting to be of some assistance, Rhinestone moved over to Quasar's side, reaching a hesitant paw out to rub Tree's spine comfortingly. He spoke in a warm purr, trying his best to reassure the youngling that all would be alright, "I know things are scary right now, but... like your brother said, you'll get through it together. Not only that, but the both of you have Palmclan to help out now, alright? We'll be here to protect you, and help you with anything that you might find scary." He fully realized that his words could easily ring hollow, especially since both Tree and Quasar were left without their parents. However, this didn't mean that Rhine wasn't about to try, against all odds, to help Tree out.

NEVER OPENED MYSELF THIS WAY
LIFE IS OURS, WE LIVE IT OUR WAY

— Reggan