afterglow

For @Tyrr and set at... between "SFT0" and "SFT2" on the map. Set after his thread @ NP? Maybe a day or so later? Timelines how do.

The visit to the forest was a brief affair, and after spending a few hours there, Tryphon felt the need to roam further afield. He missed the taste of the ocean too much to let it slip from his grasp - even for this short period of time. The tundra prawled out from the forest and he made short work of it despite the drag to his heels and lethargic gait. Something still urged him to turn around. A feeling... It was like... Remorse? No, that was too deep for him to comprehend at this point; something similar then. A need to return to the forest and investigate why Mother Sea had pushed him so far. But he refused her wishes, being a petulant child instead of the obedient drudge. 

Tryphon found another cluster of mountains, and followed the ridge line until it faded in to grassland; there were patches of exposed rock and half-frozen soil before him, but in the distance, there were also dark shapes upon the horizon. He would have to crest the hill and travel across open terrain to reach it - and he was intent to, despite the ache in his legs and the worry in his mind; Tryphon wanted to run from whatever destiny the sea had written for him here.

He reached the top of the hill when his energy levels all but gave out. A sharp pain twisted through his ribcage, spasmed in his loin and haunch, and the boy's plump body was forced to halt. Tryphon sank to his belly, absently pushing with his forelegs at the short grass around him, while he whined and worried. Was he dying? Was he starving to death? Was this payback from Mother Sea and Mother Moon for his disobedience? 

'Please, let me live,' he pleaded, feeling his eyes grow misty as the melodramatic moment truly set in. 'Mothers, I will obey. Please, stop.' While he thought this, the muscle cramps in his body lessened - likely because he had stopped walking - and this he attributed to the prayer. A small sigh of relief pressed from Tryphon in the next moment, and he rolled lazily over, giving in to a bit of rest. He would return to that forest as Mother Sea commanded - eventually.