Ruby had been at rest - idle, for once - when she had heard the telltale signs of an intruder. It was not the sound of his movement that disturbed her, but rather, the very moors of Iromar told her about his arrival: birds had shot out of the reeds, unaccustomed to his presence, and their complaining had called Ruby to attention. She had been deep in thought, but suddenly, she had something else to deal with. Part of her thought about leaving it for Apollyon to handle, or even Skyfire (seeing as she had expressed wanting to be useful, after all) but there had been some kind of...nagging in the back of Ruby's mind that made her toss aside those thoughts. For some reason, she felt it was important that she be the one to investigate the disturbance, and so she had started off after the would-be stranger before she knew it.

It hadn't taken her long to get onto the intruder's trail. Ruby's brows were furrowed, and her ears flickered here and there with agitation. Something was off, and it made her skin prickle with a strange sensation somewhere between uncertainty and excitement. It was only when he called out for the pack - for her - that the tension broke and left her bewildered. Mid-stride, she had come to a complete halt, flinching back as if hit by some unseen force. She blinked, shook her head, and then began to run. Reeds bit at her, and mud splashed up her sides, but she didn't care about any of that. All she could think about was getting to him first.

"Obsidian?" She practically called out to him when she saw him ahead. He had grown so much, yet she couldn't stop to think about it. Instead, she continued to race forward until she was practically on top of him, where she came to a sudden stop, nose buried into the fur of his shoulder. "Brother?" Her tone was confused, yet alive with an almost child-like excitement. Obsidian! He had been lost to her. It had been seasons since she had been able to even think of him, fearful that thoughts of him would lead her down a dark path that lead to his death or some other tragedy. How long ago had it been? Their mother had sold him off - traded him off! - to Iromar, to Blackthorne, to who-knew-what-purpose. Ruby had coveted Iromar for that very reason: to find a place where she, Lethe and Obsidian could exist together, but when it had finally happened, he had been nowhere. She had always assumed that he'd been taken away, or had gone to the deeps of the grotto like their father had. Yet...he stood next to her. She could bury her nose into his fur and breathe in all the strange places he had been...

And then she nipped at him. She lurched for his ear with a sharp, metallic snap, then shoved hard against him. Leaving her alone like that...? He was a bastard, she couldn't deny that!

"You've been away! From here, from us...From me! And you come back so casually?" As much as she tried, she couldn't quite make her voice sound angry. Nonetheless, she forced her way in front of him and stood opposite, head lowered and glaring into his face. It was only then that she noticed the skull - somehow, it had escaped her notice thanks to her anger and exitement - and she suddenly felt embarrassed. "And...and with that? What is that?" Even as her heart thumped away in her chest like a wild bird, she couldn't deny her interest in whatever prize he had dragged home after so long...She tried to keep glowering at him, but her eyes kept roaming back to the strange, bird-like skull, wondering just what kind of face had been there once upon a time.