he couldn't say what brought him to duskfire glacier. he'd made sure
@Hyacinth knew he was going on a trip, and that he'd be back, but he didn't say where he'd be going. nor did he invite him along; someone had to watch the children, and zephyr needed to do this alone anyway.
the glacier smelled different than it had when he'd left it, though he didn't think much of that. what stuck out to him was the distinct lack of wintersbane's scent along the borders; as far as he knew, the alpha patrolled often. the absence didn't bode well... but perhaps he was simply busier these days. zephyr wouldn't be surprised if he was, given how many children he'd sired. so, despite his doubts and his misgivings, zephyr sent up a call specifically for the dark alpha who had likely sired his children — unaware that the man had long left this world.
Veteran had wanted to come with her to meet the caller, but Lane had made him stay behind with Wayfarer. She didn't want either child to have to be alone for even a second, in the wake of Wintersbane and Tzila's deaths. Also, given that the caller had requested Wintersbane by name, she knew she'd have to break the news. She wanted to spare Veteran from that potentially painful scene. He'd been through enough.
She trudged out to the border to meet the caller. He had a familiar air about him, but it took Lane a long moment to place him. "..Zephyr?" her sluggish brain finally spat out. "You're..." ..Alive? ..Okay? ..Not in Blackfeather Woods? ..Friends with Wintersbane?
Lane didn't know which one to pick, so she just left the word hanging. A spark of wonder lit in her previously dull expression.
wintersbane did not come to the border. instead, someone familiar showed up, and zephyr felt the pit in his stomach grow heavier. lane,
he returned the greeting in kind, noting the ways she had changed since their last meeting. i didn't think i'd see you here.
a pause, no longer than a heartbeat, and then he said in a heavy tone: wintersbane... isn't coming, is he?
it was the only conclusion that made sense; the alpha was gone, or... gone, maybe, but zephyr didn't want to think about that. wintersbane had potentially given him his children, a gift he would not trade for anything, even the return of his former life. to think of him as dead... it felt wrong. cold. cruel. he couldn't entertain the thought, not while it was possible that the man was alive and simply elsewhere.
He remembered her.
I didn't think I'd see you here.
"Same," Lane echoed Zephyr's sentiment.
He addressed the elephant in the room almost at once, asking his hesitant question. Lane shook her head wordlessly, an aching rawness in her throat.
She knew she ought to report Tzila's death too, in case Zephyr knew her as well, but she just... needed a minute.
Instead she asked, "Were you his friend?" Her eyes found Zephyr's.
gone, then — just like that. somehow the alpha of duskfire glacier had seemed as eternal as the glacier itself, in zephyr's mind. to think that he was dead — because what else would bring such solemnity to a meeting of mere acquaintances? — was almost laughable, if only because it felt so implausible.
death always felt that way, in zephyr's experience. couldn't be me, everyone thought... until it was them.
no,
his voice was suddenly rough, lower than normal. more than that, i guess. or... i don't know.
how could he explain? why did he even want to? but suddenly it was a need, not a want. i left my children at our home on the coast, with the man they call their father. they'll always think of him that way, if i can help it. but the man who sired them...
he looked past lane and swallowed. he never even knew they existed.
raimo, in this moment, was forgotten. he had abandoned the situation and warranted little thought these days, as far as zephyr was concerned.
"Wintersbane is their biological father?" Lane asked bluntly, never having been much for indirect ways of speaking.
Her heart was so heavy and mind so occupied, that she didn't even bother to puzzle over questions of gender, sexuality, and conception. She simply accepted what Zephyr spoke as truth, as complicated as it may be.
Apparently Wintersbane had been even more prolific last season than Lane had originally thought, and that was saying something. He had fathered two litters within the glacier, after all. How many additional litters of his roamed the greater Taiga?
"Your children have brothers here, and a sister. Two are my own." This was a connection with Zephyr that Lane had never expected. It was yet another twist of fate to which she would be expected to adjust.