Oystercatcher Tide Pools do not look for my heart anymore, the beasts have eaten it

He keeps the distance between them no matter how many steps she makes. He will cross the earth like that while she spends for life searching for him. He'll always keep ahead of her, never quite close enough for her to reach, and she frowns. Even making herself seem smaller and weaker, something that leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, doesn't quite pull it off. He believes her, on a superficial level, but his baser instincts keep him grounded even if he doesn't realize it. She can hear the skepticism in his voice while he doesn't know he's doing it. Ksenia only knows she has to reach that level and build a bridge to gain his trust. 

"Home, I suppose," she says quietly. It's the truth, as much as she doesn't like it (at least as far as she is aware) but her reward would out weigh the risk if she can pull a veil across his eyes. Being in his presence without the back up of her own minions put her in a line of danger but they would more difficult to control in her lies. "Mom wants you to come home. She isn't mad at you anymore, she—"

Ksenia closes her eyes and takes a long breath. Where she mimics the struggle of admitting her failures, the lie is just as difficult. Her wishful frown remains on her features and she lifts one paw to shorten their distance but she doesn't take the step forward and instead allows herself to back up instead. 

"She's ordered me to find you. If I want any life on the islands, I have to bring you back home."