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Raiden quietly watched Derecho. He noted that his brother seemed to have a sullen look on his face. Was he really that upset that he had finally made it back with their father? Unfortunately he had been gone for too long and didn't really know his brother that well. It seemed a shame really, perhaps the two of them could have been closer. Then again there was still plenty of time for that wasn't there? They would have to catch up soon enough.

The pup finally shifted his attention and looked for Aleu. Perhaps his sister would have a much warmer welcome for him. Though he still wasn't sure just how happy she'd be to see him either. Being gone had definitely left him out of the loop some. Perhaps his sister wouldn't be all that pleased to see him either.

Derecho glanced at Aleu as she finally decided to show herself, she was humming - like always and he was vaguely surprised that she hadn't decided to welcome her brother home with another one of her crazy songs. when she didn't say anything and just came to sit beside him Derecho puffed himself up and gave Raiden a smug look, clearly Aleu preferred him. HA! Not even the stories Raden could no doubt tell about here he had been would work. He was sure of it and cast a lordly eye upon his sibling, before giving Aleu an uncharacteristic warm bump with his shoulder.

Since it seemed as though Raiden wouldn't be much of a threat to his established place in the pack Derecho supposed he could at least be civil to Raiden. He was his brother after all. "So..father didn't stay?" He asked after a few moments. "Did he teach you to hunt...Aleu and I have been learning from Merrill..and she's the best.." He continued on his civil attempt soon turning into bragging.

Aleu's eyes shifted to Derecho as he gave her that small bump on the shoulder. See this was why she had stayed in the bushed up til now, she really didn't want to take sides. If she sat beside Raiden then Derecho would be mad. And sitting beside Derecho clearly was upsetting to Raiden. She should have just stayed in the bushes, or sat in a neutral spot. And yet at the same time she was glad to have sat beside Derecho, they had grown pretty close in the time Raiden had been missing, even though he did annoyed her from time to time.

Her attention moved back to Raiden as he spoke. She wondered if what he said was the truth or if he was merely making things up to make himself sound better. Raising herself to her paws again she padded over to her brother, circling him. Her humming stopped for a moment so that she could speak. "And what would these other things be brother?" She asked, her tail flicked about, hitting him gently with it as a silent was of saying she was glad to have him home.

Raiden sat quietly thinking to himself for a moment. Oh yes, he had definitely caught his sibling's interest. Of course he had known that he would. "Well," He started off slowly. "It wasn't just the hunting of course." Raiden said a little smugly. "He also taught me about what it is to be an alpha, all of the smart stuff that you have to know to lead." Okay, so he still had some issues with expanding his vocabulary, but all he really needed was confidence. That was one of the biggest points his father had made about being an Alpha. If anyone saw you falter, regret, or start to rethink your decisions then no one would follow you or trust you. It didn't mean you weren't allowed to admit your mistakes, you just had to be confident in doing so.

The pup was about to share this tidbit of information with his siblings when he stopped. Why should he tell Derecho? He knew that his brother would most likely be his biggest competition and he wasn't about to go letting him in on all of his secrets. No, he'd have to be careful with him. Perhaps he shouldn't have opened his mouth afterall. "It's all rather boring really," He continued on rather dryly. "I doubt you'd really want to hear it."

"Of course it wasn't!" Derecho snapped at Aleu as she made such a silly suggestion "WE got to see how it worked in a real pack afterall" He continued with a smug tone to his voice. "I'm sure dad is a good teacher and obviously he's a good Alpha - but hearing him talking about it just wouldn't compare to SEEING Mom and Aunt Meme put it into play" He concluded with a challenge in his voice.

It made perfect sense to him really, obviously Raiden and Tempest might have seen more of the world...but he and Aleu knew the pack lands and the pack far better, and the pack to Derecho's mind was by far the most important.

Aleu's humming came to an abrupt stop as Raiden snapped. She had expected for him to perhaps fight with Derecho, brothers fought over everything, but the fact that he had shown even the tiniest amount of anger at her hurt more than anything. She knew she shouldn't have been trying to get Raiden and Derecho to fight, but she just needed something to tell their mother. Her maw dropped into a bit of a frown. Had Raiden changed that much since he was gone?

If their mother was here she would have looked to her for comfort, but she wasn't so Aleu raised herself to her feet and padded over to Derecho. Sitting down close to him she let out a very quiet whine. Aleu was normally a pretty happy puppy, but this little snap from her brother had broke that happiness in one fell swoop. At least Derecho would never do anything to deliberately hurt Aleu. Sure he was mean to her every now and then, but in a more protective big brother type of way, which she didn't mind most of the time.

Raiden immediately felt guilty as his sister let out a little whine. He hadn't really meant to snap at her. He had just gone through quite a bit and what with Derecho's bragging he hadn't thought it through that well. Sure his sister could be a little annoying but he hadn't honestly meant to upset her.

At Derecho's words the little cub tucked his tail between his legs. Wait, no. He was not going to be a coward. Yes he had upset his sister but the words weren't meant for Aleu, they were meant for Derecho. Just as quickly as he had tucked his tail he moved it and stood up a little taller. He would apologize to his sister later, yes she was upset right now but she would get over it.

Instead, Raiden took a step closer to his brother. If Aleu wanted a fight she might just get it. "You know those words were meant for you brother." He growled back at the other cub.