King Elk Forest with baited breath

Nova responds to his question with affirmation that she, too, saw him: the King Elk. A beast, admittedly, that the druid had hoped was more than just fable. “He is truly magnificent.” Mato breathes, having never seen anything so ethereal in his life and harbors the sneaking suspicion that there may never be any sight to top the King Elk ( but then again, he’s young and doesn’t consider that, you know, birth of his someday children might actually top the King Elk ). “Me too.” Mato breathes a lofty sigh to Nova’s expressed joy that he has returned. “I did not return alone, though. Grandfather and Malice have came to join our ranks with their skills.” Mato informs her, in case Nova wishes to see them; the empyrean is glad to have Burke and Malice, and cannot help the soft scowl that twists his features as he thinks how it is an honor to have Burke’s expertise and how unjustified the Caldera’s treatment of him was. “You were right about the Caldera,” Mato speaks then, figuring he might as well dive right into it since it was more than likely to come up anyway. “A child had told grandfather and by extension Malice that they had to leave because he was taking resources from the Alpha pair’s pups,” The druid recalls the story as he was told it. “They refused to let grandfather eat because they keep spawning when they do not have the resources to do so.” Fools. He had yet to actually meet anyone from the Caldera ( that he wasn’t related to ) and perhaps one day, if he did, his impression formed currently may change. Or perhaps it may not; but currently the Morwinyon holds little more than disgust and contempt for based off of what he’s been told.

Even now, it unsettles him and causes his umbra dusted hackles to bristle with anger. Not an emotion that Mato feels often. The druid was not very aggressive, not even passively; but beneath his eloquence he is primal like all others. Or perhaps it is the king in him that feels the slow burning, seething rage at such injustices; because he could never imagine stealing food from an elder, because he would never allow reproduction if he was not sure that Tindómë could support everyone. He would never risk it for both the adults and the babes. “Needless to say, it did not go well. Grandfather and father got into an argument and Benjamin acted like an angry, spoiled child. In front of Brienne. Not exactly how I wished for her introduction to the rest of the family to go.” He is still embarrassed about how they all acted in front of her and couldn’t help but think, bitterly, that he would not blame her if she balked at the idea of someday joining the family.

Realizing that he has info dumped Nova, the empyrean offers her a sheepish look of apology.