Darwin glanced around his surroundings more, letting his eyes linger on the unnamed man and Knox’s son. However, it didn’t take long before another joined in on the welcoming party. A vaguely familiar face, aged rather nicely in the time it had been since Darwin had seen him. Antaa’s eyes immediately swarmed to the canine companion of the Dauntless, keeping tabs on him while Darwin’s riverstone eyes set easily on the approaching beast that was his brother. In stature, the pegasus was small in comparison to him. But at least Darwin had the sky at his heels, wings along his sides, and as Archibald began to speak, he listened to hear the emotion he thought might fill his brother’s voice as it had the unnamed man. Yet, there was none. And as he approached further, he spoke of thinking him dead.

Before Darwin could respond, the man beside him that had lead him and his companion here began to speak. He spoke of how Archibald could welcome him back with forgiveness. Well, that surely didn’t seem right. He’d done nothing wrong by leaving. After his mother died, what was he supposed to do? The sun god himself told his brother to not let him become a pawn. Evers had left, and so had he. It only seemed fair. His ears flicked back in frustration for a brief second until he realized he should at least try to be nice. He was, after all, in their home.

So a grin grew across Darwin’s dark maw, his beard swinging with the movement as he took a single step toward the Dauntless while spreading his wings out at his sides. The barring of black in the middle with the white was bright in the light as his eyes sought out the golds of his brother. “Ah, Brother! No, not dead. Very much alive, but I’m sure you can see that.” His voice had changed some, instead of hostility he imagined it would bear, it held more of a playful tone to it. He wondered after all these years if the Czar had thought him dead, if he had taken a chance to look. Probably not, he imagined that Archibald probably had more important things to do than search for a simple lonely child. It just didn’t seem his style.

“I spent some time outside of Helovia. There was always a lot going on here, so I decided to explore my options, you see. But I’m back now.” He smiled to Archibald, a genuine ‘hey i’m family so you gotta take me back and be nice’ kind of smile. Antaa, along the stallion’s back chirped to the man with the companion, uncertain of what kind of emotion seemed to run through her bonded at the sight of the black and white equine. He was large and even Antaa knew that Darwin could be treading on unsteady water.

"Talk."

darwin