Blackfeather Woods My owner and my prey

The question posed was one he hadn't been quick to answer, having to think his words over carefully. Why were things like that? Why did he think that way? There was a single answer made available to his mind, one he could neither deny nor refute. "Because your mom was amazing," he'd said, his time needed to think made brief. "She let me come to my real home, and she'd led this place for awhile." Perhaps he would have smiled, had it not all been in the past tense. The priestess was no longer with them, and never would be again. He hadn't known her long, but the stories shared with him by his father had made it seem as if he'd known her from birth. He missed her, truthfully, more than he did his own mother. "Just because she isn't here doesn't mean you don't have a mom," the elder child stated. "Don't say you don't have a mom, don't disregard her life like that." Had expressions been visible, his would have been unreadable. It was not neutral like the one his father usually held, but rather, it was twisted this way and that with an array of various feelings.

When the topic of conversation was directed towards his own familial matters, Xan came to a sudden stop. Confusion flooded his features, but not for the question itself. He was confused about the answer he should give, for he truly had no idea. "I don't know," he had eventually answered, starting to move once more. This time, though, his steps were far slower than before, his mind concocting scenarios. "She could be... but I don't know for sure. Even if she isn't, she's still gone and never coming back." A swirl of anger and sadness flickered through his eyes, and for once he felt grateful that the tunnels limited vision. A slow shake of his head was meant to dismiss it all, but his thoughts remained clouded. Was there even a real chance his mother had died? He wanted to think that, if it ever happened, she deserved it. It would serve as her payment for having abandoned him and his dad, karma for making a foolish choice, but... he couldn't think that way. No matter how angry he was, he found himself unable to wish her dead.

"Anyways, she doesn't matter," Xan had said quickly, shaking his head once more and picking up the pace. "She's not a good lady." He could hear the trickling of water nearby and decided to follow it. There was a place he needed to see, a little cave with the glow worms, and he wouldn't leave until he did. Honestly, even after, he wouldn't leave and never return. The Inuit had, after all, marked one of the entrances as his new den. There was no way he'd stay out of the tunnels now.