Ankyra Sound pearls and swine bereft of me

there were many things yet needing to be done — and even still, caiaphas set them aside, and sought out her true-blooded son. if she was to commit to such mundane chores, she supposed she might as well have company, and the two of them had much catching up — and healing — to do. 

following a pattern of scents left by her dark headed child, caiaphas traced between the bracing back of high sequoias, eyes ever sharp for the solemn doppelgänger that now strode in the revered halls of their home.

the boy moved throughout the sound slowly, taking in what he could. in his time on the plateau with kavik and liri, illidan had learned the lay of the land well enough to have traversed it in his sleep. the sound – though it stood as his true home – was more of a mystery to him than anywhere he had been before. the familiarity of the place clawed at his insides like a hungry cur in the streets. it was as though he should have known it, but he had allowed himself to forget, and that was a sharp slice of frustration.

prowling across the sand and then moving further inland, the dark-hooded wildling searched for things that would trigger his memory. it was not until he caught sight of the sea witch herself that he felt his thrumming heart settle in his chest. the burning of his missed childhood was forgotten in the familiarity of her features. illidan waited for her to close the distance and stood with his head low.

it took little to find illidan, though when she did, emotion rent itself anew in her barricaded heart. the weight of the months they had been separated still hung her neck like a chained torc— seeing him, head low as if in disillusioned defeat, stirred an old kindling of protectiveness in the salted crone. 

they — she — had done enough sulking; their lives would not be improved by wallowing in self pity over the lost time between them. illidan’s wounds ran deep, and like so many first cuts, would take longer to heal. caiaphas had a little more time on her side, a little more experience — steeling herself with a firm jut of her chin, she attempted to quickly dissolve the heavy mood that had settled between them. lunch?

lunch?

illidan drew his head upward and cupped his ears forward at the sound of her voice. he hated that he felt as though he was learning it for the first time instead of knowing it in the marrow of his bones. though familiar, illidan could not have said that she sounded at all like he knew her. in his head, her voice had been different through the months that he'd spent away, and he hated himself for ever having changed her.

“sure,” the wildling answered with a short nod of his dark skull. it was then that illidan turned his attention to the trees away from the coast and wondered if she wished to hunt on the land they intended to claim, or if she had ideas beyond the hidden paradise of the sound.

while the sylph had no such access to the boy's thoughts, she caught the shadow of reservation that tinged his features. in so many ways, illidan reminded caiaphas of his father. even after all of this time, she still remembered cleanly the grizzled muzzle of her mate - every fleck, whisker, and rowdy raze of hair. and before her sat possibly the last living embodiment of his lineage, a child slowly growing into a man.

illidan had turned for the wildwoods and a simple smile played harmlessly on caiaphas' features. she had no intention of delving inward; with a grunt to announce such motions, the sylph turned back towards the coast and moved towards the tidal flats at a leisurely dog-trot.

there was no verbal response, but the young man did not miss the upturning of her dark lips in a soft smile. illidan was not aware of the thoughts that ran through her mind, or the memories he might have kicked up of the old man who had occupied one half of his parentage. instead, he had wondered to himself if his single-word response had caused the smirk, or if other thoughts played in the back of her mind. as familiar as her shape and colors might have been to him, her personality was something that had long been forgotten; it required a great deal of relearning.

when caiaphas turned away from where they stood and began at a steady trot toward the lapping waters, illidan followed without question. the length of his limbs and the rolling muscles along his back moved to match her speed, though he held himself at a short distance to avoid the feeling of being clung to. his movements were predatory and confident – they did not reflect the uncertainty that swam inside of him.

caiaphas picked down the bare shore, a glance thrown over a bony shoulder once or twice to ascertain the darkly masked presence of her son shadowed her. there was much learning to be done - both between them, and between the sound -- and while caiaphas was intimately familiar with the rocky shoal and its every nuance, its familiarity was likely all but alien to her children.

the wretch halted at the bank of a flat and barely rippling tide-pool, her gaze sweeping to illidan in appraisal. she had long since known of the hidden bounties these isolated gems offered, but it had been knowledge installed within her rather than innate. peering into the reflective depths, caiaphas turned to illidan, noticing the purposeful way he moved despite the fact he was now in a world entirely foreign to him. "lunch is here - if you can find it."

the young man moved as quickly as he could to remain beside her; he prowled at the flank of his doppelganger with a few huffing breaths into the frigid air. she led him across the beach and into the realm of tide pools. his gaze drifted from the lean shape of her frame to the reflective water with some moderate interest. his eyes latched onto the ripples there before caiaphas pulled them to a stop. he moved a few steps away from her to watch as she motioned with a flick of her gaze and a nod of her narrow muzzle toward the pool.

there was food there – or so she claimed – but he had to find it. there was a concerned expression as he glanced from her to the pool without moving. for a long moment, he did not stir from his spot. for a moment, he had expected that she would demonstrate for him. the expectant look on her face was enough to tell him that he would get no such help. with a thoughtful frown, illidan stepped toward the pool and peered into the water.

he was met with the vivid image of his reflection. the brilliant yellow of his gaze startled him, but the young brute could not pull his attention away. it was the first moment in which he realized just how much he had grown out of his youthful appearance. the cognizance was chilling, and he did what he could to swallow the lump that had gathered in the back of his throat.

though he had adopted the colors of his mother, there was not a soul who had met him who could deny that illidan looked just like his father.

she had expected the boy to be confused - even to look to her for assistance - not that she would give it freely. 

her children were already indoctrinated to the harshness of the world, but even as their mother, she would not coddle them or give them respite from the earth’s incessant volley of hardships. they must learn to think and fend for themselves- for while she wasn’t old, she would not be around forever. 

as narcissus stared into the pool, caiaphas interrupted his mesmerized self-studying with a huff that fogged the wintry air. staring at ones reflection was no way to capture a meal.

illidan did not find his own reflection to be something of admiration; he was not transfixed by the flash of yellow from his eyes. the young man looked at himself and saw a creature who was entirely foreign to him. he saw age where age should not have found a home, and lines where only youth should have shown through. the image of him was gruff and morose. the wildling did not understand how he could have gotten to that point so early in his life.

the huff caused his ears to flatten against his skull and his head to lift. he turned sharply toward his mother with a furrowed brow and frown. “what am i supposed to find in here, besides water and sand?” illidan asked her gruffly, waiting for what he was supposed to have done. the dark-hooded youth might have been born beside the sea, but he did not know how to exist out there.

there was that eyjolfur-sassback; the sylph smirked knowingly at his exasperation. gods, could she be insufferable.

illidan saw only water and sand - perhaps not entirely wrong, though she hoped that some creative innovation might come through. they were a shrewd lot naturally — and she would temper and condition them to be shrewder still.

where there is water, there will always be food. she stepped ahead and pulled back a frond of kelp that lurked on the surface: under the riffling waves a school of shrimp darted, alarmed by the sudden intrusion of light and claw. the prey in water almost always hides. if not under plant, under stone. those are edible — if you can catch them.

something of a skeptical expression crossed his features at the thought of being able to find real substantial food in the tide pool. though he followed her movements and saw the fleeting image of the shrimp before it found solace in its own hiding place, illidan was not sold on the idea that they would have found a filling meal in the water. he knew that he could speak to the prey in the trees and beyond, but he had long since forgotten the knowledge of the sea that had once belonged to him.

“but do they even taste good? how's that little thing going to fill me up... or anyone else?” illidan voiced his concerns with his furrowed brow still intact. there was a chance that she was really just hazing him and would reveal that she had only been joking to see how smart he was. well, he was buying into the spiel for the time being, but he wanted a demonstration before behaving like a fool.

like so many children of the world, illidan was distrustful of an adult’s wisdom. caiaphas bent down to the pool and watched carefully — moments passed before any movement was made. 

and then, with a hawkish dive she scooped downwards across the water, catching brine, kelp and shrimp alike. the motion was deft, articulate — and in a matter of seconds she had gulped down a fistful of writhing creatures. you tell me, came her unhelpful reply - then, she hunkered back down at the brim of the water, studying the flitting creatures that panicked beneath the shadow of her thin muzzle. you don’t just eat one. eat - and eat again — look — that rock is living. she motioned to a clam that was barely visible between sand, wrenching it from the water with a rough tug of her teeth. crack it, and eat.

it was not just her wisdom that he distrusted, but a vast majority of the world's. it was not as though he imagined that he was better versed in any of the things that were discussed with him, but that he felt as though he did not wish to be taken advantage of again in his life. now, illidan didn't believe his own blood mother would attempt such trickery against him, but he did not feel as though he knew her as well as she should have. it gave him more than enough room for pause.

the spindly woman dove in to the pool, and the boy recoiled back a pace as he watched her. it seemed as though the movements that she demonstrated were more than natural. to him, she looked as though she had been birthed from the sea instead of the land, and he envied that. she had found success in her lunge, but his features were scrunched as he closed the space between himself and the pool with hackles rising.

the shell that had been pulled from the water sat there at his foot and he glanced warily to his mother before leaning forward and gnawing against the tough shell of the thing. surely, hunting in the water wasn't nearly as beneficial as hunting on land. still, he tried to wrangle the thing open but found little success.

caiaphas thought the boy looked terribly dubious — it was not his fault, though she hoped he would eventually throw his doubts in her to the wind so he would learn more swiftly. 

while illidan wrestled the tough shell of the clam in his jaws caiaphas trawled the neighboring pools for more food. she found three more trinkets - a crab, a conch, and a second clam. throwing them in the mix, she spoke: break their shells — eat. if it is shelled, it is edible — but avoid soft things in bright colors. once you are done, we’re off to the borders.  

as to not disturb him, the sylph turned back to a bordering pool, nosing along the rim of a flat stone while she waited. once he had eaten his fill - which took some wrestling, given the hard exterior of the clam's protective shell - she picked up the contents she had purloined from the beach, carried them to the grotto's cache, and then the two of them made in silence for the borders.