Dragoncrest Cliffs Sunsetter

He had been here before.

The scents had shifted somewhat and the snow obscured everything to some degree, but... The young man knew this place.

He lingered beneath a copse of trees, unsure of himself.

The wilderness had sculpted Reki in to something lean, strong in that hidden way; he knew he would fare better through the winter if he found others of his kind, and that necessitated his return.

there were forces that forged one into a new entity. from one mineral to another, things changed. hardened. adapted.

lafayette was much the same. the past moon had shaped him into something sharp and foreboding. his friendly nature had all but disappeared. and it was a wary young man that met reki now.

what d'you want? he demanded of the wolf, teeth bared in a snarl. he continued to advance upon the man, even past the border.

he was done with threats. they would submit or flee.

He sat a while, and when the cold nagged at him he got up again to pace. Someone found him just as he was settling again, and in one fluid (but awkward) motion he was squat like he might sit, and hurried to stand again.

The stranger was sharp in that youthful way, and carried the colors of people he could vaguely recall. Their bared teeth made Reki hesitate too, and for all the confidence he'd had to adopt to survive, it was difficult to summon it now.

He looked hunched and his tail was tucked.

H-home, The young man said. Or sighed. It wasn't with any gumption at any rate. Cold, an' h-hungry. A nervous tongue runs over his nose. I... home, here, long time ago.

the words spat out gave him some comfort—at least for a moment. but it wasn't until the stranger claimed familial ties to sapphique that he cocked his head in query.

who's your manman? he asked the boy. 

but lafayette stood firm upon the borders, and none would pass as long as he had something to say about it.

He was hopeful about his chances at first. The stranger was very intimidating and Reki wasn't sure if he should linger - but he intuited a shift to them, which momentarily released some of the tension he felt inside.

Then the question came.
Who's your maman?

It had been a long time. To his mind came the image of Avicus, Ashlar, and Masquerade - but not @Chacal; and he did not know what to say. He looked around frantically at first, then gave a shrug and stared down at the earth beneath the guardian's feet.

She had nightmares still, about the day that the eagle stole her son away from her. And with the disbanding of Redtail Rise, she assumed that hope was lost; Ashlar had disappeared long ago, and the Redtails had had no word of Requiem in quite some time.

It was normal for the men to wander, she told herself, but words did not soothe the pain of loss and worry.

Her son’s scent was much changed, as was his appearance so she did not bolt toward the borders when an unfamiliar odour caught her attention. Lafayette, it seemed, would beat her to the introduction, but when she caught sight of the wiry and strong young man who appeared, she paused and stared for a moment.

He was so very much changed from what she remembered, though his coat had stayed, for the most part, honest to the hues she had passed on to him. Some resemblance to Ashlar she could see in his features, and her own in his eyes.

Still, it was with disbelief that she sang to him, the melody that she used to pair with his name, to see if it sparked recognition.

The Tanzanite’s tail waved, and she came closer, repeating the melodic phrase once more.

at the indecision, lafayette began to bristle once again, and another snapped query was working its way through his mouth when chacal appeared on the scene. more than relieved to have backup, he glanced toward the tanzanite—

and the look on her face took him completely aback.

she was singing—not with words, but with melody. she looked upon the young man like mireille looked upon lafayette and his siblings, and. . .

perhaps, it would be all right.

is dis your manman? he asked the stranger, nodding toward his auntie with a gentle incline of his head—though he had a feeling that question was merely rhetorical at this point.

he would be run off, he knew it. the faces he knew did not come this far northwest, and he had not seen any of them for such a long time. but he knew this space; he had lived here very briefly in that muddy time between the rise and the now.

then a figure did appear; she moved from shadow, a song buried in her throat. it was not a familiar sound - having originated at a time where his ears had been freshly unfolded, and that was a full lifetime ago - but he saw the face of the woman, and his heart skipped a beat.

maman, he called out to her - it was a foreign word upon Reki's tongue but the guard had used it so many times now, it must have been the title for this woman. she moved closer and Reki's desperation to stay warred with his sudden urge to run, so a quaking lurched through his haunches, and he lowered himself to the dirt with his tail curled.