grime-seeped claws grasped at the earth at the drum of heavy footfalls; from a closing distance, a visibly exhausted frame prowled towards the borderline. having lost a significant amount of weight and vigour during his travels, the titan of a man who once stood above others and unearthed a trembling fear from those caught dead in his warpath -- was reduced to a nearly unrecognizable state. it would take dear time to return his physical appearance to what once was, if he could manage to do so at all. his ribs now showed through a formerly thick coat, battered and worn as evidence of months of rouge activity. returning to rusalka seemed like a distant thought, though it was the home he could not find elsewhere, it was the woman adorned with constellations who guided his every move. when he was not with her, he thought of her. when the nights became cold and the hunt ran scarce, he thought of the whelps nestled within her and if they had ever come to be. the children born from grezig likely did not need nor desire his presence, and so he (selfishly) did not carry any intent to seek them out.

calloused paws failed beneath him and he stumbled, resigning to the hard ground only meters away from where the faint scent of a past gone by lied like a silent grave. she was here, he knew, for his nose had never once betrayed him. but the elements had worn him to the bone and he could venture no further. there, on the outskirts of a temple he once forsook, he closed his eyes.

through gunked up eyes does he regain consciousness long enough to see a blurry figure steadily approach, before shutting in defeat once more. vaati had no energy left to care who exactly it was, nor if they intended to finish the job nature began. it had felt like he lived an entire lifetime already, and submitting to the quiet void of existence after death was not something he would protest to. as she spoke, he felt the warmth of reunification within him, leading his mind to believe that this feminine presence was indeed the mother of his children; any holes of doubt was promptly filled with exhausted delusion. "cass" his tongue let slip, hushed and feeble in comparison to the confident baritone his vocal chambers once bellowed. "i told you... never apart, not for long." had he not recited that very sentiment atop the storming cliffs so long ago? all his memories, they all seemed so strange to recall -- like they belonged in someone else's subconscious from generations past. rannoch, hydra, alya, redhawk, the screeching one; had it all even happened? had he truly done those things... become that man? he begins to feel the tide of slumber wash over him once more, and struggles against, for his sole question has not yet been answered.

"the pups... they live?" fragments of sentences is all he is able to manage as he drifts from memory to reality, struggling to find a foothold in either. he had never been sure that his seed had taken, for he had not seen the elusive woman since their union and had been left only to wonder of their existence. perhaps they had never come to be, and the purpose of his returning journey was now half-split of its cause. but if the ominous feeling shrouded over every step he took was to manifest in his path, the status of the potential offspring was enough to usher him calmly to his grave.

despite enjoying a less-than-lucid state, the news that both his children and their mother were alive managed to keep him grounded, pulling him closer to reality and farther from emerging psychosis. however, the revelation that he was not in fact, endured by the company of cassiopeia but a sister of his, caused a small furrow to develop on his brow. confusion laces his tone, "maegi? she lives by the sea." she couldn't be here. maegi hated him. he could do no right... though he had tried, he had continually made unforgivable mistakes which, strand-by-strand, severed the bond between them. perhaps he could attempt to blame the curse of ill-mannered youth on all he had lost, but truthfully, he had been someone that even he would wish death upon. much of what he did and said was inexcusable and he knew it. though, he would not grovel -- he was not there yet. prying his eyes open, vaati attempts to force himself to his feet, or at least to a mere sit, and comes face to face with the marred visage of someone he knows to be his younger sister.

"oh. maegi" he breathes out, but makes no move to greet her. 

"Did Damien send you?"

vaati growls lowly, recalling the arrogant taunts of the estranged uncle. how he had expected vaati to so willingly bow at his feet and lay fealty to cause purely out of shared blood reeked of an arrogance that put more than a sour taste in his mouth. at the time, he had seen it as a challenge, and there was nothing more the former titan detested than inferior men acting under the guise of superiority. "damien, lord of nothing." if he could spit, he would have. "i am no pawn of his." his eyes began to regain clear vision; the heat building in his veins as he continued to recall all that he despised brought forth a willpower he could not acquire in any other fashion. "i've come here for my children only." vaati says so with familiar confidence, unwavering in tone. damien, his bitch, and whatever similarly dimwitted offspring they produced were not his concern.

he found it endearing that his sister accepted his criticism of their uncle so willingly, indicating to him that she too shared a similar sentiment. the root cause of it remains unknown to him, any stipulation as to why their family had turned against each other was now lost to more recent and unfortunate memories replacing things he could not care enough about. however, judging by how maegi seemed to hold all the graces and airs of a resident alpha, he could see how someone like damien would be threatened by such a development. "and now you rule... much to damien's displeasure i assume." it was not so far fetched to infer, for there had been the impression from the start that their uncle had self-appointed himself as matriarch, not to be upended by anyone. 

vaati does not linger on the topic of their uncle, not wishing to speak on it further as more pressing matters surfaced. daughters. vaati looks briefly to the boy who stood at his sister's side, ruling out the possibility that the curious child was his. perhaps a child of maegi's? his attention is quickly drawn away from the boy, settling on the lingering figure of a child bearing all the resemblance of his younger self. perhaps this girl was his. however, he would not begin to assume that the child who looked at him with such a cold, calculative stare was one half of the litter without confirmation. so, he does not move towards her, but catches her gaze with slightly narrowed eyes and chuffs lowly. it was not to be mistaken for hostility, but an authoritative attempt at a 'what are you looking at and who are you?' gesture.

at the mention of his wife, he nods affirmatively, "yes." but there is a brief hesitance in his voice that is governed by the uncertainty that she would accept him once again. she had done so before, but cass was a fickle creature... there was no telling how she would receive his sudden apperance.

maegi retreats into the woods, and the girl speaks up.

"you should be bigger."

he cracks a light smile as his gaze shifts again to the child, impressed by the young girl's blunt choice of words. there was no mistaking from whom she came from. "those are bold words coming from someone no taller than my shoulder." vaati returns amusedly, before nosing his snout over her forehead. he very briefly thinks of tizir, before casting that venturing thought away. no matter, that brood was likely fairing a lot better within rusalka's borders than he currently was. "hela, ruler of hel. interesting." the man smirks slightly, wondering if she was destined to become as fierce as her namesake. as maegi's figure retreats, he refocuses to the woman he simply could not stay away from. how far they had come since their days as mere teens was simply impressive, and how ironic it was that she now returned to the place he had once imprisoned her in. to her, vaati takes a softer approach, "how have you been?" pacing slowly towards her, he carries an honest interest in her wellbeing -- who knew the things she had faced while guarding over the lives of his young. reaching out to touch his nose with her cheek, the man keeps his guard up in case the gesture is not well received.