Being near the sea always made Ephraim feel uneasy.
It was his birthplace and birthright. Much of his youth was shaped by it. But it was also the last place he had seen his sister alive — hardly dear to him, for he hardly knew her at all, and yet it was still a strangely significant loss — and the place his estranged mother had died.
Yes. Died. Ephraim dared not acknowledge the part he had played, not even in the solitude of his own mind.
Whether it was trauma or the latent rage of the
taotaomo'na, he never felt at peace when ocean waves roared in his ears. The little coywolf would avoid the coast entirely if he could, but the salt in his blood mirrored the salt of the sea and it pulled him ever homeward. Ephraim could not part from it forever anymore than he could part with his own head or organs.
There was a recklessness in the way he padded on the very edge of the cliff under a cool morning sky, tempting fate while knowing that he could not fall. The
taotaomo'na would not let him. From here, he could just make out Dragoncrest silhouetted in the distance and the grotto tucked away beneath it.
His heart pulled in that direction even as he balked at the sight of it, his mouth filling with the taste of salt and acid.
*SNIPES* but svalinn u are still very welcome to join SRY I SNIPED <3
it was in val's nature to roam. he'd stayed closer to home this time, but still the urge to keep his feet moving and eyes roving thrummed in his heart.
ahead a silhouette toyed along the dangerous edge of the cliff. val watched in apprehensive silence. it seemed a terribly risky game, but perhaps that was draw to it. val had played his own cheeky contests against the unending tournament that was life.
he pulled closer, yet not so close that his own feet contested the seeming ridge of the world. no, he let that honor go to ephraim -- who he studied in quiet interest as the sun rose silently behind them.
The coywolf was tempted to test the taotaomo'na by intentionally dipping a paw over the cliffside, but even aside from the spirit, his sense of self-preservation was too great. It wasn't prudent to put all your faith in one thing, either, especially when that one thing had just as much reason to want him dead as to keep him alive.
Ephraim spun about all of a sudden, seized by a feeling that proved correct when he pinned Val in his pale yellow gaze. He narrowed his eyes and his lips pulled down in a sneer. You want somethin', kid?
it was instinctive to pull back when a pair of yellow eyes assailed him.
his first thought was they looked eerily familiar.
val looked around him for a moment, as if surprised to be addressed as a kid. it'd been a long time since he'd held such an honor -- for a moment a wry smile crept to his lips.
no, not really.
he answered honestly, though curiosity got the better of him. do you tempt fate often?
whatever reason ephraim had for treading the cliff that day, val did not learn it — for a howl from sapphique summoned him to return and he wasted no time answering their call.