Cerulean Cape Eternity is hidden in every moment.

For @Padma.

They did not rush. Where Winter had urged the Drakru siblings onward in haste to complete their mission before the worst of the snow fell, they'd seen so little of the world beyond the cliffs before the weather forced them to turn back. So despite the trauma that forced him from his home the week prior, Dacio took in the new sights as they travelled. He breathed in new scents and crossed paths with new wolves, observing with wide-eyed wonder as though seeing the world for the very first time.

Early that morning, he roused alongside his golden companion and pulled himself to dark paws to shake his pelt free of sand before raising his head to greet a new dawn. Dacio padded carefully from Opalia's slumbering form and across the beach, charcoal ears forward and grey-green eyes searching a sky painted with shades of warmth.

It was a beautiful sight, he would admit, though no sunrise could ever compare from Drageda's viewpoints - and Dacio found himself longing for a home he couldn't return to.

For once she hadn’t been startled by another’s presence. No she had seen this boy from a long ways off, his steely shaded pelt contrasting against the tan sand beneath her paws. He was gazing at the beautiful sun as it rose above them, it was going to be a beautiful day. A small smile tilted her lips as she approached the other canid.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” She had watched the sun rise from so many different vantage points, and yet none had ever been quite the same. Each experience was new and refreshing, unique in its own way despite the similar act.

The reddish girl stood a familiar distance away, weary of strangers yet finding the need for some sort of connection overwhelming. Especially since the frequency of her encounters had drastically increased since returning to the Wilds.

A wolfess' voice drew him from his thoughts, though it did not belong to his golden sibling. Dacio blinked over a peppered shoulder, curious, and fixed the stranger with a firm stare.

She was a wisp of a thing, fine-boned and sharp, so unlike the warrior women of Drageda. Delicate she-wolves were mostly unfamiliar to him, though he was intrigued. Perhaps this shape was considered normal beyond Drageda's cliffs, beyond even the Rusalka coves. Her dark eyes were gentle though, a deep hue that reminded him fondly of Tirgatao's.

"Sha," the sterling youth agreed, testing the other yearling's knowledge of his natal pack by sharing a small sample of their language. "It is."

The silver boy turned toward her, green eye shimmering in the sun as it hovered on the horizon. Smiling softly Padma shifted her gaze to the water and further toward the sky. She had no notion of the word sha, but assumed it was some sort of affirmative.

“I love morning, it reminds me of home. Startled by her own revelation, she was a Morningside after all. Padma was suddenly embarrassed, surely that was a dumb thing to say. To stubborn to take back her words, the youngling held her ground.

He observed the girl quietly, pricking a velvet lobe at the comment regarding her fondness for morningtime. She shared that it reminded her of her home, which he found rather odd. Didn't the sun rise and set everywhere?

Her expression dropped a little and she fixed her gaze to the horizon beyond him. Dacio took note of her sudden awkwardness, sure not to draw attention to her embarrassment.

Fleetingly, a corner of his mouth twitched upward in amusement, though it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. When his mission was over, he would have no home to return to.

"Is your home far from here?" Dacio asked gently, knowing all too well how sensitive the topic could be.

Capturing a glance of the of the ashen pelted boy before dropping her gaze to her feet, suddenly unsure of the conversation. Her mind distracted by thought of her siblings and her parents, and now even Aditya came to mind. She remembered the den in which she was born, and the wide open plains of Morningside. Was her home far? Yes. In fact it was unreachable.

Giving a small nod, Padma cleared her throat. “Something like that.” She murmured, “My home no long exists.” Her words so delicate and soft, a slight breeze could have swiftly carried them away. But at the moment, despite the rushing water along the beach and he grand expanse of the sea before them, the wind held it’s breath.

Her amber gaze resettled on her companion, a sad smile on her lips. It wasn’t everyday that she shared her deepest ache, but sometimes, sometimes it was just too much to carry. “I am Padma.” She offered more of herself, a name to put to a face.

She murmured something, and the boy's dark ears sprung forward in attempt to catch what she tried to say. Dacio's inhaled deeply, finding her words entirely relatable, and released his breath in a sorrowful sigh.

Shifting his weight, the young Gona turned his back on the rising Sun and made a tentative step toward his tawny companion. "I understand. I also don't have a home to return to," he shared solemnly, lobes folding back against his crown in acknowledgement that Drageda was not the only pack to falter. "My name is Dacio. Do you seek someplace new?"

There didn’t seem to be many that understood the ache of losing their home at such a young age, at least not many that Padma had found. “I am sorry for your pain Dacio.” She tested his name on her tongue, and match his tentative step with one of her own. “Yes and no.” The Morningsider offered somewhat cryptically, before she gave a better description. “I learned quickly how to fend for myself, I don’t need someplace new. At least not yet. I hope that one day I’ll find the perfect pack for me. But until then, this is it.” Her smile broadened, and she tried to push the dark subject from the conversation.

“Being alone isn’t that bad, most of the time.” Shrugging softly, she lowered herself into a seated position. “What about you? Do you seek something new?” Padma didn’t often encounter many lone wolves her own age, and supposed that most would prefer the safety of a pack. Curiosity twinkled in her amber eyes.