Larksong Grotto Mossimo

tagging the babies for visibility <3 slight PP on their part, hope that's okay. 

the day that the high inquisitor had arrived was the day that jhala made a decision. daniel was a downright asshole, and she was sick and fucking tired of living in the shadows to hide from him. she'd already made up her mind, but it was right now that she decided she'd had enough. it was late, just past midnight and the children had already passed out. she and Hiram were curled together, but she just couldn't sleep. finally, she left @Astik and @Tapat to sleep, but grabbed her husband by the ear, pulling harshly at it. this was enough, she'd had enough. a long time ago, she had devoted her life to @Hiram, but times had changed. now, though she'd fallen in love with the dark brute, she made a decision for herself. when they were further from the kids, she let out a low growl. "i can't stay here anymore."

In Hiram's mind, one thing was certain. If things continued the way they were, Larksong would not survive the winter. His boys, his wife -- he would lose them all to his pride. With Nova likely dead, her nephew gone, and the preist, Phares, MIA, the pack could no longer support itself. All that remained was a zealot that Hiram hardly knew, and Daniel, the inquisitor whom Hiram trusted as much as he would a snake. He was terrified for the fate of his family. Something had to be done, he knew exactly what his family needed, but he was too scared to say it. The church was a failure. The blessings of Raas were all but nonexistent, and the Cardinal's once resolute faith was irreparably shaken.

Next to his wife and his two beloved boys, Hiram laid sleepless. When Jhala stirred and pulled him toward the grotto's mouth by the ear, Hiram rose and followed her to the grotto's mouth. What she said next was exactly what he needed to hear -- it was exactly what he had been thinking for the past month, but hadn't had the balls to say. "I know," he said. He bit his lip and nodded painfully. "None of us can." It was painful to admit, but he then looked to his wife with earnest and said, "The faith is poison Jhala."

at first, jhala was shocked, and it was clearly written upon her face. she stared at him in the dark, squinting uncertainly. had he really agreed? she was all prepared with a whole list of logical reasons why they should leave...  but whatever, fuck it, this was perfect. "jesus christ, reek," she said in a breathy tone, taking another religions god in vain without a single bat of an eye. "it's about fucking time. you know how long--" she paused, shaking her head, "forget it. " he agreed with her, agreed his religion was absolute trash, and agreed that they needed to go. that was enough, now they just needed to figure out where.

"what if we went towards the mountains? there's plenty of shit there. i used to live in this ridge before i met you... there was prey even in the fuckin' winter, it was bizarre... there's something for us there, i bet."

Poison. A slow killing poison that had been left unchecked for far too long -- that was all the faith was. What kind and loving God would bring the families of the faithful together just to tear them apart over and over again? What God would see His own church struggle and fail? There was no rhyme or reason to any of it. No divine plan. Nothing. The Cardinal felt himself to be the biggest sucker of all time: first for buying the lies hook line and sinker, and second, for spoon-feeding his sons bullshit about some all powerful God, who obviously didn't care about their survival. Surely, they would here no more from Reek.

Jhala was obviously shocked in the wake of the Cardinal's change of heart, and in a way, he surprised himself too. Ever since Indra left and Laurel's outburst, the cracks in Hiram's faith grew deeper and deeper with each passing day. It only took a single nudge for the whole thing to break. "The mountains. Yeah," he nodded. Mountains tended to have a fair amount of shelter, and high ground was easy to defend. "We'll need to find a pack. Even if there's prey, we won't be able to support the boys on our own." They needed the help. However, finding a pack would be difficult, as the good Cardinal had few friends outside of his immediate family unit.

"we can do it," she replied with a nod, her tail wagging. it happened, he gave in, and though she felt guilty he lacked a religion (something she could tell meant so much to him) she was thrilled that she had something she wanted. "now. let's go now," she added, moving her head beneath his, nuzzling him softly. she'd not been this happy in a while, and never had she felt so relieved. a huge weight lifted from her shoulders, and suddenly she felt like she could breathe.

"i love you," she said with certainty, giving his cheek a soft kiss and retreating to stare at her mate in the dark, "more than any god would claim to."

Her confidence was just what he needed. They would survive, and so would their boys. The Larksong family would survive, and it would survive without the poison of false gods or empty promises. "You're my rock Jhala," he told her. She, and his children, were his only tether that kept him from spiraling out of control as he had before. He pressed his face into her touch and whispered, "I love you too." More than the faith. More than his empty god. He wholeheartedly chose his family.

And though he wished to linger close, he pulled his face away. "Let's let the boys sleep for now. They'll need the rest. We can go when the sun rises," he suggested. After all, he didn't quite know how long they would have to travel.

she was thrilled, so so happy. he agreed, she could leave. she didn't have to pretend to be some worshiper of the sun, of all fucking things. she might've cried, had she not been so proud of her emotional and physical strength. "fine," she said, though it was more of a chirpy agreement than a 'ugh fine whatever.' she paused, tail waving. "then we've got some time, right?" she asked, a bit of an edge laced into her voice, she pressed her nose to his cheek, and the pair stayed further in the cave until morning-- where they both took their children and fled the territory.