Silvertip Mountain the moon hides your pain

Set at the base of Silvertip Mountain where it meets Honeyed Pasture. Any Drageda wolves may cameo.

They had been on the road a few days. Most of the time they walk in silence, scattered from one another to cover ground for better scouting. They move quickly, surprising Thuringwethil with how much ground they cover. If they keep going, it’ll be just a few more days before they reach their borders. She’s certain she could skew for days if she were to stop but she presses on. A few hours a night they come settle. Those that still have an appetite eat, sleep, or whatever they need to do but she’s at least able to keep an eye on everyone.

She hasn’t spoke much to her children since they began but she doesn’t blame them for now wanting to speak to her either.

Once they’ve settled for the night, and they’ve decided on who does what, Thuringwethil is able to take a step back and search for @Artaax. He’s skirted off to the side of the group and she slowly approaches him, a soft woof to break the air and draw his attention, but does not get any closer without him prompting.

Truth be told, Artaax felt no resentment towards nomi for the decision she had made. He didn't like it at all, but that didn't mean he didn't recognize it to be the right one. Wildfire wasn't well enough to travel, and the last thing he wanted was to put her in more danger. It did make it somewhat easier to handle, but still his heart ached with remorse and longing.

But, like always, the hompleia was attempting to distract himself with action. That evening, he had stepped away from the others to stand watch for a little while. The call from nomi took his attention away from... Well, he hadn't really been paying any attention to the land that stretched out before him, or anything else but his own thoughts for that matter. Turning, he looked at her with ears falling back and head bowing slightly.

At the sight of her, he didn't think at all about how she had made them leave Wildfire behind. He thought instead of how pathetic he had been when they'd found her again at the borders of the Caldera. Shame heated his cheeks, and he glanced away as though he could avoid his feelings by simply looking away.

Artaax doesn’t say anything when she approaches but she doesn’t mind, nor does she break the silence. He looks away from her and she frowns, her head droops a little as she closes in the remaining distance and her tail waves loosely, forcing herself to relax despite the tension pulling on every muscle. Gently, she puts her nose below his chin and nudges him up a little, then licking at the side of his face. She sheds the remaining bits of Heda left behind for a rare moment and closes her eyes, leaning into his by now only slightly smaller form. With a gentle point of her nose, she draws away and lower to the ground, leaving an open invitation for him to take the place within her embrace.

Artaax didn't look at her as she came closer. He felt his tightly drawn control beginning to loosen with each step she took towards him, subtle panic prying it apart. He didn't want her to see him like this. He wanted to be seen as strong and brave in her eyes, not snivelling and pathetic as he was on the verge of being. It seemed that nomi didn't care what state she saw her son in; she crept to his side regardless and reached for him, and the boy was helpless to hold himself together as she made room and he pushed himself, trembling, into her arms with a wordless whimper.

It takes a few seconds but he collapses to the ground and pushes up close to her. It is not the same embrace as when he’d been a newborn, or even a toddler, but she makes room for him. He’s grown so much in the last several weeks and she can’t help but wonder when it’ll stop. It isn’t until that moment that she wants to shrink him tiny until he’s a puppy, able to fit between her paws and into her chest, but she makes due with that she has. Softly, and without a word, she grooms the back of his head with a soft rumble. She disregards his weakness—she isn’t sure she’d even call it that—but she hopes to reassure him. There isn’t any words she can offer that will give him solace and so she simply exists as his mother, his protector in all things.