Hushed Willows oh, the earth fueled the flame

As Tavi came to the end of her winding information-turned-tale, Mordecai felt the tug of his lips, a too late tempted to spill out of his mouth. He caught himself however, finding neutrality in his expression swiftly as he approached consideration of the question she had poised. It may have been a loaded question given all that she had subsequently dumped with it, but he did not see it that way. At least not entirely; he understood the necessity to protect something.

"It's not wrong to want to keep him safe," he answered. "Harlyn and I both wanted to keep our children safe, which is why we left the home that we built as well." A passing thought of Reek troubled him though, if only because he couldn't put a name to a face. Someone he had no doubt met a long time ago. Even if it hadn't been that long, it was still long enough given all that had happened since.

"A cougar threatened our home," he went on. "You probably know the story, but our numbers were too small to defend against it. It must have gone through half of us before we decided to pack it up and leave. The risks didn't outweigh the benefits of staying there, not when our children were so small. I guess the bugs and the herds leaving was just insult to injury." Whether or not that cougar still lurked out there was unknown to him, but it hadn't followed them. Maybe it had died with the locusts for all he knew.

He hoped so, anyway.