Brothers [Aurien]

Ahhhh, a nice and crisp morning after a good rain! Ettie always loved the smell that would come after a rainfall - and after having spent the night snuggled up together with the rest of her pack in one of Princess' pocket dimensions, the group was raring to go!

Over the past few days, they had made their way southeast - originating from the Northern Prominance, and heading down to the Eastern Timberlands. Aurien seemed eager to go someplace far from home - and whilst the Western Flatlands certainly could've been an option, much of the pack agreed that during this time of year - the transitional period from spring to summer - that it'd be getting much too warm for those of them more adapted to the cold. Instead, traveling along the southern border of the Northern Prominence and making their way to the Eastern Timberlands seemed all the more prudent.

And all that aside, from what they understood, a certain family member of Aurien's was living in Rosewood - a Wanyamon (potentially, at least; signs pointed to him having possibly digivolved by now!) by the name of Steyr! And after a nice Lux Harmony up in Ys, the group was more than plenty keen on sharing some of the festival cheer with Aurien's older brother.

It'd be a little bit before noon that the pack would finally arrive to the forest city - and being the sizeable group that they were at 8 pups, they were sure to draw at least a few curious gazes. Nonetheless, Ettie would smile brightly to her packmates, asking "Where do you think we'll find Steyr, now that we're here?"

"I dunno..." Adhara hummed in response, visibly thoughtful. "Rosewood is kind of big..."

"I'm sure we'll find him in no time, if we keep our noses ready!" Duchess chirped with a wag of her tail, already sniffing about at the air, to see if she could catch a whiff of anything.

Aurien, meanwhile, would be filled with an almost certain giddy energy the whole time. He was getting to see Steyr! One of his older brothers, and thus most definitely a fellow hero! Surely, Steyr would have plenty of stories to tell everyone, right? He couldn't wait to share plenty of tales with him - and on top of that, he couldn't wait to give Steyr one of those crystals - so that he could make a wish of his own, too! "Maybe we could ask around?" He'd suggest to his packmates, glancing about. "Surely, some of the people around here will know where Steyr might be!"

So far, there seemed to be no sign of Steyr in Rosewood. Certainly, some of the digimon around here recognized the given description of a black Wanyamon, or potentially a digivolution of one - but noone really knew where he would be right now. Maybe he wasn't in town right now, for whatever reason? The pack didn't mind waiting to see if and when he'd come home, although Aurien was visibly antsy over having not seen any sign of his older brother this far...

... But before the search could go any further, a full and deep villainous laugh would ring up; causing the pack to jolt in surprise, eyes casting everywhere, until they settled upon the mysterious Gaomon up on a nearby rooftop. There was a near-immediate response from Anne, who began to growl lowly, visibly agitated; and by extension, much of the rest of the pack would begin growing agitated and/or on-edge as well, from picking up on their leader's displayed emotions.

Who was this digimon? Were they a threat? Noone just makes a weird and suspicious display like that, looking to pick a fight when there's an entire group, while only being at Rookie stage like that...

Aurien specifically being called out seemed to catch the Gomamon's attention though, perking up and staring up to the disguised Steyr with visible curiosity and interest. This person talked almost like a villain from a superhero comic, and he was clearly into the theatrical shenanigans, if the excited smile slowly growing on his face was of any indication. Yes, he was truly a hero! And any good hero should be prepared to take on the villain of the day, right?

Thus, as Steyr declared his villain name, Aurien didn't even notice the crowd's judgement of the seemingly lame name. Instead, he was more than ready to puff out his chest and step forward, speaking loudly and clearly! "Indeed, I am a hero hailing from the frozen lands of the Northen Prominence; son to grand heroes Hikaru and Owen, and a prince of the beautiful city of Ys!" He'd declare with animated gestures, head held high! "I - a wave upon the arctic ocean that once washed over the Shining Sea - shall face you head on, Evil Masked Wolf; and your villainy shall be washed away!"

The pack would glance amongst each other with brief bewilderment as Aurien and Steyr both spoke - still on edge, but seeming to otherwise be settling down a little. Did... Aurien have this handled, then? Was this just a game that this weird, familiar-smelling Gaomon was initiating with Aurien?

Nonetheless, once Aurien confirmed that noone would be in the way, he would waste no time in using Tidal Charge - intending to try and use the height of the large wave it produced, to charge into this Evil Masked Wolf, and sweep him right off of his perch! (Or at least, as all else fails, use the wave as a boost to actually get up to this villanous Gaomon-)

But what Aurien didn't expect, was for the disguised Steyr to jump down - and in jumping down, to proceed and fall right on his face! Being a little slow on the reaction speed and uptake, Aurien would try to abort the attack early - actually being a little concerned for this Masked Wolf - albeit it was a bit hard to stop a wave, once it got moving! "Er- W-watch out...!"

Hopefully, Steyr had the mind to move, before he ended up even more wet - and potentially slammed against the wall by the wave!

Aurien, admittedly, had initially intended to break character to check and see if this Evil Masked Wolf was okay once the wave had died down - he didn't want to actually seriously injure this guy, when he was pretty sure they were both just acting and goofing off! The disguised Gaomon's theatrical cry, however, seemed to do the trick in assuaging the Gomamon's fears. And as the water began to properly die down, Aurien would turn around, ready to continue this acting fight against Steyr!

... Except, it seemed that Steyr's mask had been completely knocked away, in the ensuing waves - which ended up breaking character a little bit, for who was supposed to be an Evil Masked Wolf! Aurien chuckled good naturedly at this, teasing "I have unmasked you, and now you're just Evil Wolf!" as he grinned playfully in the now revealed Gaomon's direction.

With the seeming fight now over, the rest of the pack would begin to gather - looking amongst themselves, and at Steyr, with general confusion. "Who is this?" Duchess would ask Aurien. "Is he...?"

Yes, it seemed that this was none other than the Steyr they wanted to meet - and Aurien's eyes would light up happily, as he came up, and wrapped his flippers around the Gaomon in a big hug! "I'm so glad to meet you, Steyr! And I'm so glad I passed!" He'd exclaim, little tail wagging happily. "I've always heard such great things about you; I wanted to come see how you're doing! And introduce you to my pack, now that I'm out and adventuring with them, so that I can become a real hero like you and the rest of the family!"

"It's nice to meet you!" Ettie chirped, her tail wagging. "I'm Ettie, this is my sister Anne, and these are my packmates - Duchess, Princess, Ruffian, Adhara, and Sirius!"

"Hello hello!" Sirius would greet with a lackadaisical hue, humming as he swayed side to side on his paws.

"Just how many Gaomons are in your family, goddamn??" Ruffian questioned, blinking a bit owlishly. He supposed it made sense, given that one of the fathers was a Gaomon as well, but... The sheer numbers, he swore! Even compared to any of the Dorumon in the family he was vaguely aware of Aurien mentioning!

"Mmm. Be polite." Princess would briefly scold the delinquent Gaomon nonetheless, nudging him a bit harder than perhaps necessary.

Aurien couldn't help a laugh at all of the banter though, grinning brightly. He enjoyed the shenanigans that always happened with the pack - and this was no different. And now that Steyr was here, he would get to join in on the antics for a bit, too!

Steyr wasn't a hero? Aurien initially had opened his mouth to retort against it - of course Steyr was a hero! They were both heroes, yeah? - but... As the Gaomon elaborated upon what he meant - that even if he wasn't a hero yet, he was still a hero-in-training - Aurien would blink a bit, seeming to warm up a bit to the idea, as he chuckled and nuzzled Steyr. "Yeah, that works for me, Steyr!" He'd exclaim. "We'll become wonderful heroes, the both of us - I'm sure of it!"

Next though, would be Steyr going over the general introductions, and identifying each of the pups one by one. Initially, they'd be a little surprised at such - seemingly not expecting the Gaomon to be able to instantly point out each one of them and their defining trait, but well... The mention of the letter would prompt some of the pups to perk up with recognition. Ah, did Hikaru or Owen send Steyr a letter about them, then?

Seemed like it - as Steyr continued to list off the individual pups, next naming Princess, the Offmon in question would mumble "'s fine... Could probably carry you, even..." with a hum, even as she was starting to get comfy on a nearby bench. Oh dear.

Nonetheless though, the pups would nod or make lil yips of confirmation as they were mentioned and identified - and as Ruffian's turn to be identified came along, the delinquent Gaomon in question blinked. "Yeah, I'm pretty damn sure that I still could've beaten him in a fight if it weren't for that two-bit AI bull getting in the way." He'd grumble. Mostly boasting, given he knew quite well that Haku could digivolve to a much higher level than himself, but... He wasn't sure if it would be okay to tell Steyr that, so he did surprisingly well in otherwise keeping his trap shut about it.

As Aurien was lifted up, the young Gaomon would yelp a little in surprise - seemingly not expecting Steyr to manage such a thing! - and almost immediately slipping once awkwardly placed atop his head, before Aurien could manage to grip onto his older brother's shoulders with his flippers. Once the surprise faded though, he'd laugh - and with Steyr's question, mentioned "That all sounds about right! And it's probably pretty obvious that this is my first time here, myself."

"Me and Anne have been here before!" Ettie confirmed with a smile, tail wagging. A few times by now, including the play date they had with Omen forever back! But now she wondered, how the Wispmon must be doing right now...

In any case, Duchess would smile brightly next, mentioning "Me and Princess went through here, when we left the Village of Beginnings!"

"I hung around for a lil while, before I left for Terminus." Ruffian added with a brief shrug.

"I don't think we've ever been to Rosewood before." Adhara hummed, surprisingly enough. "Probably the only ones, given most born in the Village of Beginnings are probably pointed this way nowadays."

"Yep!" Sirius confirmed, adding "We were born in Luminas, though, so we never really came this way before!"

The offer of meat, though, seemed to immediately catch the pack's attentions; tails a-wagging. "I want some meat!" Ettie chirped, practically bouncing in place in excitement. "I think a lot of us are pretty hungry, now that you mention it!"

Anne, too, would look the pack over - sighing briefly. "Let's not cause a stampede." She'd remind the pack, going over to the bench - where Princess had dozed off - and gently shaking the Offmon awake. "C'mon, let's go get food."

Briefly, the soft murmurings of Princess' sleepy grousing and Anne's urging for her to wake up and get food with them could be heard, before the Offmon finally would straighten up with a big yawn. And as she slipped off of the bench, to rejoin the pack, she only had one declaration. "... Food."

At Steyr's challenge, Ruffian would initially be more than plenty ready to take the other Gaomon up on it. "Hell yeah it is!" He'd respond with a cocky grin, adding "I wouldn't be talking shit, if I couldn't handle getting hit - how 'bout you come at me!" He wasn't about to stand down from the challenge anytime soon - despite the sheer difference in size, between the two Gaomon. Already, he'd be putting up his fists, ready to just brawl it out here and now, but...

"... Nope. Foodtime." "Gh- h-hey!"

... It seemed that Princess was having absolutely none of this - effortlessly picking up Ruffian, and lifting the delinquent Gaomon over her head. She was not about to let the spitfire canine's fighty nature get in the way of a good meal - especially some barbecue.

Despite this though, Ruffian would be obviously unamused by this, flailing his limbs as he called "P-Put me down, damnit!"

Of course, Princess would only continue to shuffle along after Steyr without giving Ruffian much acknowledgement - unimpeded. Meanwhile, some of the pack had a laugh at the shenanigans that just occurred, before they too would follow with. Food definitely sounded more appealing than a spar, to a lot of them.

And thus, they'd be led to a Meat Farm manned by a large Woodmon - something that Adhara, Sirius, and Aurien would respectively look to with brief curiosity. They hadn't met one before, given that they hadn't been through Eastern Timberlands before - so the sight was a bit curious for the trio! But nonetheless, the pack collectively followed in Steyr's lead, as he went to order some barbecue sets.

"Everything smells so good..!" Ettie commented with a giggle and wag of her tail.

"Yeah, yeah!" Duchess added in agreement, bouncing in place. "I'm ready to eat a bunch!"

"Food..." Is all that Princess muttered, as she finally set Ruffian down - the Gaomon in question stumbling a bit, as he had to suddenly get used to being on his feet again.

Anne though, couldn't help but observe the nervous look on the Woodmon's face meanwhile - the Strabimon's ears flicking back a little at such, as if she were picking up on this emotion. Hopefully, such a large group coming along didn't result them in eating the Meat Farm out of house and home...

But nonetheless, it didn't take too long to get the sets in question - and the pack was more than happy to help out in carrying all of the meat and veggies, even if a few of them were clearly drooling at the smell of the food and spices already.

At the question of any preferences and if there was anything that'd make the pack sick though, well... "Hmm.. I don't think there's anything that would make any of us sick." Ettie hummed in response, glancing to the pack - whom all nodded in agreement. The Strabimon would soon perk up and add "Oh yeah, and me and Anne like sweet stuff, if that helps at all? I don't think meat's supposed to be sweet, though..."

"I like spicy. Sour or bitter can get the hell out, though." Ruffian stated simply, eyeing the grill a bit. He couldn't wait to get all this food grilled up, so that they could eat - and he didn't forget the challenge that Steyr had made before, either.

"Me n' Princess aren't too picky!" Duchess added with a bright smile, her tail wagging.

"I like peppers!" Sirius added. "Not super strong ones, though. My tummy doesn't tend to agree with them..."

"I'm not picky, either." Adhara mentioned with a chuckle, nuzzling Sirius briefly as he added with an amused hue "I tend to eat the spicy stuff for him when we have to make a choice between things, but I suppose Ruffian'll take up that role now."

"Ooh, do we have any of those tart or sweet n sour type sauces?" Aurien wondered out loud, as he looked over the sets that they had gotten. "I really like that stuff!"

Princess, however, only had one declaration to make, and it certainly would be an important one. "Food."

Ooh, a honey slather? Ettie's eyes lit up a bit as she watched Steyr get to work - already sniffing the air to get a good whiff of the ever-so-sweet honey in question. Her tail was already wagging as well in anticipation of all of this - grinning over to Anne. "This is gonna be great!"

Anne, in response, chuckled wordlessly - nodding in agreement, and reaching over to ruffle the top of Ettie's head. Getting to have a feast with the rest of the pack was going to be nice, for sure.

Meanwhile, Ruffian and Steyr both would get a spicy barbecue sauce for their meat - something that certainly got the Gaomon's attention, as he grinned cockily. "Like hell I am - this is nothing, as far as heat goes!" He'd boast, already taking a seat on a nearby stump as he watched the fellow Gaomon work.

Oh dear, Duchess couldn't help but wonder - was Ruffian going to have a spicy-off with Steyr, in place of a proper spar?

Well, either way, next was Sirius' sauce - a mushroom and black pepper slather. Admittedly, the pup had meant more 'peppers' as in stuff like bell peppers and banana peppers, but this smelled really good, too! And it'd probably go super good with those sliced bell peppers he could see, too!

And finally, Aurien would perk up at the mention of a 'specialty' sauce that Steyr made - "Ooh, that sounds really good!" He'd mention with a smile, his lil tail wagging.

With the sauces figured out though, now there was the question of putting together the skewers to grill - something that was a cinch for the humanoid digimon. Anne and Ettie, given that their only real preference was just in the sauce, would both watch and see what the other pack was taking before they'd start putting their own skewers together - so as to minimize any competition over the veggies and meats that the others wanted. Duchess and Princess were trying to get fancy with their skewers meanwhile, having an absolute ball seeing how colorful they could make them!

"Could you help us put our skewers together, please, Ruffian?" Sirius would ask the Gaomon, meanwhile - smiling pleadingly up to the taller canid. It was sometimes a little tricky to put things together, when you were a quadruped!

Ruffian, who had been picking out spicy peppers to put on his skewers, would glance over to Sirius for a moment, before sighing. "Alrighty, alright. Just show me whatever you want on them."

"Thank you," Adhara chuckled, smiling warmly up to the Gaomon as he brought over the meats and veggies in question.

As everyone was putting together their skewers though, Steyr would show Aurien some fish! This certainly got the Gomamon perking up - "Oh that looks good!" He'd state, grinning excitely. "We definitely oughta give Woodmon lots of thanks later, then - it's only the right thing to do!"

With everything being grilled though, it was safe to say that there were plenty of delicious scents in the air that had the pack in a buzz of excitement and anticipation. Ettie couldn't help but giggle excitedly as she bounced over to Steyr, and gave him a big hug - mentioning "Thank you for getting all this yummy stuff for us - it smells so good already!"

Duchess, too, would join in the hug with a happy giggle - her fur tingling with static amidst all the excitement. "I'm excited for us to share all the food together!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Sirius barked in agreement, snuggling up to and leaning into Steyr instead of properly hugging, due to the lack of proper arms.

Princess would blink up to Steyr for a moment, staring ever so briefly, before shuffling forward and joining in the group hug as well. "... Food."

This all was quite amusing for Anne - the Strabimon in question casting Steyr a gentle smile. "... I think you've been adopted." She'd state simply, nodding to the pack.

As Steyr returned the hug, the pups' tails would be eagerly wagging - clearly quite appreciative of the returned affections. In response to the Gaomon's puzzlement over being 'adopted' though, Ettie would giggle happily. "You've been really nice to us, you're providing us with food, and you've been spending time with us!" She'd state, adding "And you're even Aurien's brother, too - so why not?"

"Yeah! You're our packmate now!" Duchess declared with a giggle, nuzzling her cheek into Steyr's shoulder. "And we'd be happy to bring you along wherever; we just tend to go wherever the pack pleases!"

"Mhmm!" Sirius added, nodding. "Packmate and family, all in one!"

With that though, the food was ready - and it was time to eat! The pups would waste no time in dishing themselves up with their respective foods and digging in - and for those who needed a bit of assistance, such as Sirius and Adhara, it didn't take long for their respective meals to be prepared. With everyone chowing down though, there would understandably not be a lot of chatter going on; the pack simply enjoying one anothers' presences as they ate...

... Albeit, there would still be the question of Ruffian, who had tried to put together the spiciest skewers that he possibly could. He was more than prepared to beat Steyr at his own game, over spicy food, after all; However, what the delinquent Gaomon didn't consider in taking up this challenge, was the fact that Steyr's sense of pain was more or less busted, compared to his own!

Thus, if one were to look in Ruffian's direction, one would see a Gaomon trying to remain completely stoic-faced; but all the while, tears were collecting in his eyes, and his nose was looking just a little runny, from just how spicy the food he was eating is!

"... Are you okay, Ruffian?" Ettie would pause from her eating, as she glanced at him.

"ABSOLUTELY. FINE." Ruffian gritted out, trying to avoid breathing through his mouth, lest the heat of the spices flare up even higher against his tongue.

Oh dear....