Catching Up (Kane and Lazarus)

Kane

The autumn days were cool and enjoyable, something that Kane always loved to see in the forest. The trees were painted with many colors, bringing the forest into a lavish sight to behold. Kane felt really good about the day, even after all that has happened lately. With his parents and brothers gone, and the death of Seven's father, finding a way to keep her hopes up made Kane's heart feel a whole lot better. Part of him just wanted to be a kid again, for just a moment. The pups never have to worry about too much in their lives, and they can have all the fun in the world. Kane loved those days, he was able to meet many faces, and play games day after day.

Soon a familiar sight caught the corner of his eye, as the dark pelt of Lazarus came into view. Kane immediately thought of the days were the duo played together. The times where the duo trained with his Uncle Alcatraz. A smile came to his face as the memories flooded his mind.  He gained a little pep in his step as he silently crept towards his cousin. He stayed as quiet as possible, until the very last moment, and he sprung out, tackling his cousin, and the duo rolled about in the fallen leaves. Kane then began to playfully tug on Lazarus' ear, his tail wagging in delight, just like when they were pups. "Hey Lazarus. Nice day to play isn't it?" He laughed in pure joy, as the troubling thoughts in his mind began to fade away.

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Lazarus

Lazarus was settled down in the fallen leaves, chewing absently on a stick. Time had passed since the loss of two key members of Aryn, and what affected him even more with the death of Seven’s adopted father Kris’tran. He didn’t know Kris’tran well, though he got the sense the older wolf hadn’t thought the best of him. But he had never cared much, he didn’t care about anything really. That is until Kris’tran died. Seven had not been the same since then. She was recovering, luckily, but still there was a heaviness in her, a somberness, it really brought him down, even as he tried to get her mind off things as best he could. He had long since abandoned trying to relate to her. Even only the thought of his own parents dying was just….

Luckily for Lazarus, his mind was completely dragged from such a subject when a huge force smashed into him. He gasped in surprise as a familiar mass of white fur was suddenly on top of him and then they were rolling in the leaves. Lazarus growled, pawing playfully at Kane’s huge fluffy ruff as the bigger wolf easily pinned him, nipping his ears playfully. “Nice day to breathe too, if you don’t mind!” Lazarus teased, trying to shove him off, though not with too much urgency. He could breathe just fine really, but Lazarus was rarely without some sort of quick remark.

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Kane

Kane felt like a kid again, worry free, and relishing in the moment. Kane quickly got off of Lazarus, feeling excited, and still ready to go."What do you say Lazarus? How about a sparring match? Just like when we were kids." Kane then got into a play bow in front of Lazarus, feeling his heart pumping with excitement, and feeling like he could to this for hours. During that moment, it felt like time had frozen, allowing Kane and Lazarus to relive their childhood of playing, and not worrying about their tasks and duties in life.

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Lazarus

Lazarus sucked in a dramatic breath as soon as Kane got off of him, giving Kane a teasing look as the big white male stood before him excitedly. “A spar, hm?” Lazarus said, a placid smile on his face, though internally he was not quite as enthusiastic about that idea. Kane was huge. Maybe Lazarus could be a bit quicker, but that didn’t serve him terribly well in spars where he could never get himself to give 100%. But Kane looked really excited, and it would probably be pretty fun, so eh why not?

Kane play bowed and Lazarus got to his paws, returning the play bow, which turned into a stretch and yawn mid-way. Next he stood straight and faced Kane. “Alright, kiddo, you’re move!” the black wolf said with a playful grin, poking fun at Kane’s explanation for when they used to spar when they were young.

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Kane

Kane laughed at Lazarus' remark to him. Sure, he was acting like a kid, but now Lazarus was edging him on. Kane jumped towards Lazarus, hoping to wrap his front paws around his shoulder. Kane was always bigger than Lazarus, even when they were pups. It made it easy for Kane to do things that normally only adult wolves could do. He never really cared about that though, he just liked to spend time with his family. It had been a while for Kane to be with Lazarus, and he was making sure that he enjoyed every moment.

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Lazarus

Lazarus scrambled backward as the big white wolf lunged, “Oh Geez-!” Lazarus’ exclamation was cut off as Kane’s huge furry arms grabbed him, and he crashed down into the ground with a huff. Lazarus struggled, but Kane’s strength overpowered his skinny limbs easily. He knew that escape was his only option. He suddenly pushed up into Kane with all four legs, never expecting to push him off, but simply to give himself enough space to hopefully squirm away from the Warden’s grasp and continue the game in his more evasive terms.

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Kane

Kane laughed as Lazarus squirmed out of his clutches, and started to run away."Hey! Get back here!" Kane soon chased after him. He knew that Lazarus had the advantage, because he had speed on his side. All Kane could do was to keep the pace that he had. He tried to run faster to reach out for Lazarus' tail, knowing that the spar would turn to his side again."You better run! You're the prey!" Kane jokingly laughed as he continued to chase him. Kane was feeling so happy, it felt like he could do this for hours.

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Lazarus

Lazarus didn’t intend to get caught, letting himself have fun and try as he sprang over a fallen log and ran a circle around the edges of the clearing, Kane hot on his tail, “Against a lump like you, everyone is prey!” he replied playfully.

Lazarus took a sharp turn to the side and slowed a bit, feeling confident in his evasive maneuvers despite Kane being hot on his heels. Suddenly the big male lunged forward as he reached for Lazarus’ tail. Lazarus glanced behind him with a yelp in alarm, his paws digging into the ground as he tried to run faster himself, but he was too late and those huge jaws closed around his tail, throwing him off balance. Lazarus skidded to slow himself, rolling onto his back to face Kane from the ground. He stuck all four paws into the air, hoping he could catch Kane before the big wolf crushed him into a powerful grip and hopefully heave him aside so he could escape again.

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Kane

Kane jumped in the air, falling on top on Lazarus. He tried to use his weight to pin him, making him regret calling Kane a lump. He laughed and laughed, seeing Lazarus trying to escape."So, how's this for a lump?" He then reached down, and tried to tickle Lazarus in his weak spots. Kane knew from playing, that whoever is the tickler, is the victor in many play fights. His tail continued to wag happily as he attempted to tickle his cousin.

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Lazarus

Lazarus tried to heave Kane off of him so he could escape again but Kane’s weight bore down too heavily on him and Lazarus let out an oof as he was crushed beneath the other. He laughed breathlessly, ”Yup… that’s a lump alright!“ he said. That was when Kane started tickling him. Lazarus batted his paws away as he came, trying to stop him, “Hey, no one said we could tickle,” Lazarus was not a fan of being tickled. His instinctive thrash as Kane jabbed him in a sensitive spot which hopefully gave him enough power to struggle away from the big white wolf again.

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Kane

Kane laughed as Lazarus pushed him away again. It was obvious that he didn't like tickles, and started to run away again."Come on Lazarus! Don't you want a hug from your favorite cousin?!" He chased after him, ready to tackle him again in hugs. The duo were always like this when they were younger, playing about, except when they were training together with their alpha. If Alcatraz say what they were doing, he would've thought he went back in time. Kane continued to chase Lazarus, ready to pounce on his smaller cousin again.

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Lazarus

Lazarus ran away this time, darting around to avoid the large white wolf. He shot Kane a playful glare over his shoulder, “Can’t we find something else to do other than hug?” He asked between pants.

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Kane

Kane soon caught up to his panting cousin, and stopped so that they can have a breather."Well, what did you have in mind?" He gave him a nudge on the shoulder, edging him on to come up with another idea for the duo to do something together.

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Lazarus

Lazarus turned to Kane as he stopped, having to catch himself as the big wolf gave him a nudge with the shoulder. He paused thoughtfully, “Hmm… how about we go explore the Wispwood? I hear it’s haunted in there….” he gave Kane a grin. Lazarus didn’t really believe in anything, but Wispwood did have a cool feel to it, even he could not deny that.

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Kane

Kane thought about the area of whispwood for a moment. As his thoughts trailed, a playful smirk rose onto his head."Well, let's see if it's really haunted. I'll know if it's boring, if you fall asleep." He then nudged Lazarus on the shoulder, and started to trot ahead of him towards Whispwood."So, are we going, or are you already bored?"

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Lazarus

“Heh, yeah that is always a good measure,” Lazarus agreed. He sure did love to sleep! It was his third favorite thing after fun games and eating. He trotted after Kane as they headed off toward the dark forest. He looked at the big white wolf, “So how’s life in the Rah’at?” Kane was the youngest member of the circle of Betas, and Lazarus knew as well as anyone what an accomplishment it was for him to get there. He never cared much for rank himself, but still it was pretty cool for Kane.

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Kane

Kane pondered on Lazarus' question. It was still new to him, being called a member of the Ra'hat. His title was "Master" and yet he didn't feel like one. Kane knew that he was one of the youngest wolves to ever hold that title, but it would still be a while before he could fully process it."It's good, but it's weird to be called "Master" to be honest." He looked at Lazarus with a goofy smile, and decided to play a joke on him."At least I know I'm in charge of the two of us." Then Kane gave him a goofy face, being a Ra'hat, but still acting like a child, just like Lazarus.

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Lazarus

Lazarus nodded. He could imagine that! Being called Master? That’d be strange. He gaze snapped to Kane as he said he was in charge, “Heh, is that how it is?” Lazarus didn’t really take orders from anyone. Though if a superior gave him a serious order he would do it with a roll of his eyes since that’s the way it was. Though most wolves knew better than to saddle him with random tasks unless it was Ranger related. He didn’t put much effort into things. But most Ranger jobs he thought were fun, so he usually did a good job with those.

“If we get into trouble, then we will know who is responsible,” Lazarus pointed out with a chuckle.

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Kane

Kane smiled at Lazarus' joke about responsibility, and knew what would really happen."Oh really? Who are they going to believe? The Master, or the Apprentice?" Kane nudged Lazarus in a joking manner, knowing that neither of them were being serious."I would just go ahead and say it was all your fault." Kane laughed at the thought of seeing Lazarus' face after getting in trouble. Oh that would be a sight to see, and he knew that others would want to see that as well.

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Lazarus

“Pfft, it’s harder than it looks to get me in trouble,” he said with a laugh. He was often grounded as a pup, but that never stopped him from slipping away when was least expected. He was never a wolf known to react well to those who tried to control him.

As they trotted along they still had quite a bit of ground to cover so Lazarus decided to try and make conversation. He honestly didn’t keep many tabs on Kane’s life… hardly any tabs at all, in fact. He glanced at Kane, “so anything else new with you?”

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Kane

Kane thought about Lazarus' question, knowing that many things for him have changed within the past few months alone."Well my son, Thomas, is still doing alright. Julia and Pharah are doing good as well, and adorable as ever." Just the thought of the three of them, made Kane smile. He loved and cared for his son, as well as his younger sisters as well."Seven has been staying with me and the little ones now, and she just loves being with them." His tail wagged happily at the thought of all four of them, feeling as if they were more than just family to him."What about you? What's been going on with you?"

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Lazarus

Lazarus nodded at Kane’s words. He still thought it was so weird that Kane had adopted a son. I mean… he was just a kid! They all were! Right? Well… maybe not, he realized as he glanced at Kane, who had filled out into a huge wolf with broad shoulders, already bigger than his father, even. Well, maybe Kane wasn’t a kid anymore. But Lazarus still felt like a kid… but was he...?

Ack, too much thinking. He focused harder on Kane’s voice so not to think about himself. Kane brought up his younger siblings and Lazarus smiled. He didn’t know much about Pharah, but Julia was quite the handful. Just like a few of his other younger siblings.

His mood fell a little when Kane mentioned Seven staying with him. ‘Why would she choose to stay with him?’ Lazarus couldn’t help but wonder. Not for any bad thoughts toward Kane, more than… why wouldn’t she want to stay with him instead? Wasn’t she his best friend? But then what was Kane to her, if they were living together? It wasn’t like Lazarus to care enough about anything to be jealous, but he felt a tinge of something unpleasant as he imagined Seven snuggled up into Kane’s fluffy white fur, falling asleep comfortable and happy in his embrace. He pushed the thought away. He didn’t have a place for them to stay anyway, he didn’t have a den really, he usually just slept outside. Yeah, it was probably that… just that.

He looked at Kane, almost surprised when he turned the questions on him, “Uhh..” Lazarus shrugged, “Nothin’. Go on some missions, see some things, come home. The usual. My little brothers are doing fine, so far as I know.” Kane had brought up his little siblings, so Lazarus figured that was a good place to start, “Tzuriel nearly jumped of the Warden’s Watch when I took him there, though! Geez kids these days.” Lazarus laughed at the thought of his endearing little brother.

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Kane

Kane chuckled as he thought of the four little cousins of his. They were precious in every way, and he loved them. He wasn't surprised that they were rambunctious, and he knew that Lazarus would have a handful with them."Well, I recall us not being so different from them. We're the older siblings now, and we have to set the example for them to be good wolves." Kane nudged Lazarus on the shoulder, knowing that he would be caring for the four pups maybe a little more that he would.

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Lazarus

Lazarus rolled his eyes at the comment with a good natured smirk, “good wolf, huh?” Was he a good wolf, a wolf to be looked up to be his siblings? He’d never thought of himself as a role model. Killian and Julia seemed to think he was pretty cool, though, and he enjoyed taking the adventurous pups out. All he knew was that he was nice to them, and they had fun. What could be better than that? As far as he could tell, he was a good big brother. “I think I’m doing alright,” he said, “they’re growing fast, though! Weird to think we grew that fast…” his childhood felt like it went by a lot slower than the childhood of his siblings was going by. Yet the season’s changed at the same rate still. It was sort of strange...