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All Eris heard as he ran was the pounding of his footsteps over the cold earth and the crunching of decaying leaves as he sprinted from the Forest House to the adjacent barn. He’d never missed a litter of smoke hounds being born and he'd be damned if he missed this one. Clove was getting older, and they’d decided this was the last litter she’d bear. His favorite girl had done so well, and Eris was determined to be there for her.
It was good luck for hounds to be born on the Autumn Equinox, and Eris was excited to see how many would be in the litter, he’d already picked out names. As he slid to a stop over the hay in the barn he heard Clove give out a small whine.
“It’s okay girl, I’m here. I’ve got you.” Eris said tenderly, falling to his knees next to the hound.
She affectionately lolled her head onto his lap, nuzzling her muzzle into him. The barn hand who had been keeping an eye on her informed Eris she was close to delivering, but he’d been able to see that in Clove’s eyes the moment he arrived. They had a connection deeper than anyone else could understand.
Mere moments after his arrival, the first pup was born. Typically, Eris named each pup as they were born, but there was something different happening here today. Magic seemed to pool around them in the barn, crackling fire filling Eris’s nose as he sensed the energy around him and Clove grow thick. Something in the hounds eyes spoke to him and said wait. Wait and see them all.
Many long minutes later, Clove gave birth to her seventh pup and settled. Her eyes met Eris’s and again seemed to speak to him. That’s the last one. They’re for you. All seven. The brisk autumn wind eddied through the barn and swirled around the pair before settling over the seven new smoke hounds. With Clove exhausted and already drifting into a contented sleep, Eris went over to take in the newest brood.
That’s when he really saw them and took in the full weight of Clove’s unspoken words. Seven pups. Seven brothers. As the realization struck Eris, Nico ran into the barn.
The Autumn air itself seemed to have summoned him, and he slowed to a stop beside him as he took in the tears pooling in Eris’s eyes.
“Oh no…” he said quietly, looking around for the pup that must not have survived the birth. That had to be the reason his big brother was crying…right? But Nico didn’t see any pups other than the seven on the floor before Eris’s knees.
“Ebby? Is everything okay…are you okay?” Nico really wasn’t sure how to handle this. He wouldn’t say Eris was unemotional, not at all, but he didn’t typically cry like this, especially not without his mate around.
Eris didn’t respond, just continued to look down at the pups before him, leaving one hand resting to his side on Clove in an effort to comfort himself and the exhausted hound. Nico decided he needed reinforcements and ran back to the house to rally the proverbial troops.
He found Lucien first, working in the garden with his mate preparing flowers for the night's equinox festivities. The panicked look on Nico’s face was enough to have Lucien sprinting to the barn before he said a word, and Nico didn’t break stride as he continued toward the house to find the other two remaining brothers.
Azaro and Dion were arguing in the library over how best for the brothers to process into the celebration behind their High Lord. As per usual, Azaro wanted finesse and pomp, while Dion just wanted to get the damn thing over with while adding his own woodsy flair. Right now the argument centered over whether or not Dion could march with his ax.
“I don’t understand, we’re all wearing our finest clothes. I’ve agreed to let you stuff me into that Cauldron damned suit Azaro. I should be allowed to carry my finest ax.”
Azaro stood there, one hand on his hip, the other pinching the bridge of his nose as if he could hold his patience together with that physical gesture. “Dion. An ax is a weapon. We are trying not to appear militant. Or do you want the entire court to think we are just as aggressive as father wanted us to be?”
Dion practically snorted. “I AM as aggressive as father wanted me to be…I just prefer to put that aggression into felling trees instead of innocent people…I really think….”
His words were cut off as Nico sprinted into the library, skidding to a stop and practically knocking over three, three , separate priceless, irreplaceable sculptures on his way in. Gasping for breath, he tried to get out the reason for his less than graceful entrance. “Eris…he…hounds……barn…crying…”
Dion and Azaro shared a look before running toward the barn themselves. Nico internally groaned, gulping in air to run, once again. Gods he really hoped that everything was fine, that’s why he’d gone on this marathon of a journey in the first place, but he could have done without the sprinting.
Lucien arrived first, taking in Eris still kneeling on the floor. Clove had readjusted so her head was once again in his lap, placing herself closer to the litter by him so they could feed without moving away from him. Silent tears still rolled down his face as he took in the seven pups before him.
It wasn’t long before the other three arrived behind him, Nico noticeably more out of breath than the others and wheezing. “Oh…don’t mind me…just dying over here…” Lucien and Azaro shot him a look, both seeming to say in their own way. You’re literally the one who just came to get us because there was an issue with Eris. You are not our priority right now, you big baby. You’re fine.
He raised his hands in mollification, still breathing hard, before placing both atop his head to open up his lungs and hopefully relax his still gulping breaths. Lucien approached first, kneeling beside his eldest brother. But before he spoke, Azaro took in a sharp breath, putting a hand on his shoulder as he was the first to make the same connection as Eris.
Silently, he began to cry too. Before the five brothers were seven pups, all males, all with their own personality. The eldest of the litter was already up and around, checking on the other six and nudging at them to get them moving and make sure they were okay. His coat was a deep grey, just like cloves, and his eyes were somehow full of lived wisdom. The second born pup was lying beside the third, who was already feeding from Clove. He had a haughty, knowing air about him and a dark black circle around his eye that almost appeared like a monocle. The third born, a small, stocky thing already, suckled greedily and had a black patch under his chin, reminiscent of a beard.
The youngest and largest was already following the eldest around, double checking the pups. Though uncommon, this pup had an almost golden coat and appeared different from the others. The second youngest was a light gray lanky thing, and he’d already tripped over himself three times trying to get to his mother for a drink.
It was the fourth and fifth born that had Eris and Azaro’s attention. The two lay next to each other with their heads resting on the other's flanks, appearing like a yin and yang symbol. They had matching but opposite markings. Both were dark gray with a black patch around one eye and a black ear on the opposite side. For the fourth born, the right eye was dark, and for the fifth it was the left.
Eris seemed to realize that Azaro made the same connection as him and looked up to meet his brother’s gifts. “One for each of us.” At that comment, the rest of the other brothers seemed to understand that gift that the Mother, through Clove, had given them. One pup for each brother, a second chance for them to grow up together.
Once the realization struck, each brother was immediately drawn to their respective pup. Dion took one look at his and grunted, “that's a good, strong pup there. Takes after his namesake.” Eris was so thankful he didn’t have to explain he just sat there quietly, looking at the pups he’s already named Broden and Phen. Lucien reached up from where he still knelt next to him and squeezed his shoulder, silently sharing the grief, pain, and hope he knew his eldest brother had to be experiencing along with him.
Nico, must like the pup named after him, stumbled as he joined the others inside the stall, having finally gained control of his breathing. He pointed at his pup and stated, “gonna have to keep an eye on that one, he’s gonna be a troublemaker, just like me.” Azaro shot him a look, “you know that’s going to be your problem right? Your pup, your job.”
“Well if it’s our respective jobs to take care of our mini me pups, then who will take care of Broden and Phen?”
Eris and Lucien responded simultaneously, “I will.”
Eris took in a sharp breath before he elaborated. “I failed them once before, failed Lucien before. I won’t do it again. They were my responsibility then, they’ll be my responsibility now.”
Lucien stiffened next to him, hand tightening almost painfully from where it still sat on his shoulder. “Don’t do that, Eris.”
Nico spoke up next. “You didn’t fail anyone, Ebby. It was father’s fault and father’s fault alone that we were put in that situation. You had no choice. Lucien had no choice.”
The tears were falling again as Eris’s eyes stayed locked on the two sleeping pups, the reincarnations of his lost brothers. “Still…” he said, words sounding weaker than they had in the years since he’d taken the mantle of High Lord. “I should have saved them.”
“No.” Azaro’s voice was sharp, almost harsh as he spoke to his brother. “You don’t get to do this Eris, you don’t get to put his wrongs on yourself. That fucker tried to break us apart our entire lives. The one day he successfully pitted us against each other we lost Broden and Phen. But they were trying to do what they had to to survive, just as you were trying to save Lucien. I know just how much you paid for that mistake, remember? I’m the one who put you back together when he was done with you. You don’t get to make this your fault. It’s exactly what he would have wanted and I won’t allow it.”
This possessively protective side of Azaro was so new and unexpected it caught Eris off guard, and he was shaken to his core by the sincerity of his words. Azaro, even though he was seven years younger than him, was still the second born and still received the elder child’s burden, though not to the degree of the first born.
Eris just stood slowly, his legs barely working after the amount of time he’d been kneeling. He walked the two steps, careful of the pups beneath his feet, and hugged Azaro tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered into his brother’s neck as Azaro stood stock still, not moving as Eris held him, taken aback by the physical affection they’d been forced to avoid growing up.
But as Azaro looked down at the pups behind Eris and felt his brother’s strength and resilience around him, realized, just as Eris had, that this wasn’t just a chance for the pup reincarnations of themselves to grow up together. It was a second chance for the remaining five of them to continue growing the brotherhood they’d always been forced to hide from their father. And he was determined to take advantage of it. So Azaro wrapped his arms around his brother and hugged him back.
Before they knew it, Nico had also thrown his arms around them, hugging them tightly. Lucien rose from the floor too, throwing one arm around Eris and gesturing for Dion with the other. Dion, who had hated physical affection before his father had forced him to avoid it, grunted and shook his head, but Nico looked over at him.
“Dion, so help me, you will come join this group hug right now or I will hide your ax every day for the next month.”
Grumbling something under his breath as he maneuvered through the pups over to his brothers that sounded a lot like “rotten little prankster thief thinks he can blackmail me…”, Dion begrudgingly joined the hug and Lucien wrapped his open arm around his back.
Eris, surrounded by his brothers and listening to the soft yips and whimpers of the pups beside them felt whole in a way he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt possible since the loss of his brothers all those years ago. Here they were with a second chance, and he wouldn’t give it up for the world.