Arrow Lake and if that mockingbird don't sing and that ring don't shine

Verx had done few things morally right in life. He'd killed, he'd cheated, he'd slept around. He wasn't much inclined to change, either. The one thing he wanted, though, was to make the world as good a place as possible for his children. For that, he'd do anything--even if it meant staring into the face of the sun with unblinking gaze.

He'd had a nightmare of Heda jumping into the sea, replayed over and over. He should have stopped her. He should have been able to protect her from herself. Instead, he'd failed, and Drageda had fractured. And he could no longer return home as a result of it.

All because of that stupid fucking sound.

Verx gave a low keen nearby the den for @Dragomir and @Isilmë, knowing that they were now exploring the outside world with great fervor. He settled back on his haunches, waiting for them. He needed to see their faces, the eyes imprinted on his heart. The only reasons he still lived and breathed.

set April 26

her coming was quick the moment she set gaze on the shape just outside the glade; she rose on stilted limbs and rushed out to meet him. she returned his call with a bright "ah!" of her own, and, in an odd moment of tenderness, planted a brief kiss on her father's chest instead of her usual nips. her worm of a tail moved to stand rigidly atop her spine, swaying left, right, in the manner of a seasick sailor. her eager gaze found his own (or somewhere near it) perpetually excited for any adventure he might offer. 

Something was happening. Dragomir wasn't blind to it; there was tension in the household and he was now old enough to feel it, even if he couldn't understand any of it. Being but a toddler, he was powerless to express it in a productive manner, and instead took to strange and out of character behaviours to convey his feelings. Most of the time he was still his usual loving and adventurous self, but sudden tantrums, an uptick in aggression while worrying at Aure's tit, more darting for the den mouth when he wasn't supposed to, and more soil chewing all marked a subtle change in Dragomir as a result of his arguing parents.

Vercingetorix's low chuff was met with a burst of excitement from his son, who veritably flew from the thicket to meet his father. Isilmë beat him to it, but he pressed in eagerly. He shrunk away from most uninvited touches, but on his terms, Dragomir could be fairly tactile, something he demonstrated by delivering several excitable licks to Vercingetorix's legs while babbling nonsense in between. All the while he attempted to push Isi away with his body, one of several possessive behaviours he'd taken up since the tension began.

His heart swelled and then clenched at the sight of them, so perfect, growing so fast. How could he leave? It was only with the hope of creating a better life for them all--with the knowledge that he would--that spurred him on. He couldn't have done it otherwise.

Hey, goufas, he whispered, stooping and taking them both within his embrace as best he could, sheltering them with his big, dark neck. My babies. I love you, you know that? I'll never, ever stop loving you.

An ugly sob bubbled up in his throat, coming out a strangled sound from his maw. I gotta leave for a while, though, Verx choked out. I want us to all be happy, in a place we can really call our own. Out by the sea, where Daddy used to live. It was better, then. And I'm gonna make it happen.

He knew they likely didn't understand much of anything he said, but he had to say it. He had to get it all out, at least. They'd be the only ones he'd tell, anyway.

Vercingetorix pulled back, laying down sphinx-like and looking down at them. I'll visit, he promised fervently. You'll see me again. Not for a while, but you will. And then I'll come and get you, and it'll be perfect. The tears fell, then, dribbling down his cheeks. Ai hod yu in, he breathed, mouth trembling.

Skipping since Isi was removed. :(

Vercingetorix swept both children in close, but Dragomir persisted in trying to shove his sister out of the way and hog his father's attention even as the man spoke incomprehensible words over the pair of them. This all culminated in Dragomir fiercely biting his sister's cheek to the point that she retreated. By the time Dragomir crowded back into Verx's embrace, his father's face was wet with tears, a sight that stopped the cub in his tracks.

His nose twitched inquisitively first, followed by the flickering of an ear. He stretched out his neck and sniffed gingerly at the air between himself and Verx, attempting to get a whiff of whatever emotion was ailing his father; everything was scent to him, even this. A quiet but long whine punctuated the silence; why was he crying?

she sensed her father's discontent clearly, in the same way a black fog would rise swiftly and wrap tightly around her shoulders. this was chiefly upsetting, not simply because of the stark shift from excitable to concerned and upset, but because she was not fond in the slightest of the two latter emotions. her maw parted, closed, and opened again - "ahhh?" it was meant to sound angry, and certainly was loud, but the latter end of the shout somehow turned into a whine to match her brother's. she tried to grab hold of her father's cheek with the few sharp teeth she had, hoping to chew the emotion out of him and incite him into something much more fun. 

The whine undid him further, but his daughter saved the day; he accepted the little attack readily, letting her seize his cheek, even as pain rippled through him. His bi-colored gaze flashed to Dragomir, silently urging him to play, too. Wrestling was better than crying, especially if it was the last time for a while he'd see his children again.

To see them, to interact with them, to love them. . .

Was he making the right choice? Even weeks from this day, he wouldn't be able to answer that question. All he knew was that he was hurling himself into a maelstrom for their sake, not for his. They'd grow up in the place where they should have been born. And their enemies--though they didn't know them as such--would taste death.

It'll all be okay, Verx murmured, wagging his tail. Now c'mon, come kick your dad's stupid ass.

Last post from me

Even in the midst of great turmoil, play was an infectious thing for the young. The old, too, if they didn't kid themselves into believing they were too mighty for it. Vercingetorix was shrouded in a fog of melancholy, but Isilmë broke through it when she rose up and grasped their father's cheek in her jaws. Dragomir was more reticent until his sire's tail began to sweep the ground; even then, his advance lacked a lot of its usual vigour.

He didn't understand what was happening here and would later cling to the belief that Vercingetorix would return. There might come a time when he would ask his mother when noni was coming back and be told that she didn't know, and the sting of being left behind might fester in him... but only time could tell these things. Here and now, he let his black tail wag in time with Verx's and threw himself at his father's broad paw with needle-sharp teeth at the ready.

The last play session with his father for a long time.