Northstar Vale Essential yet appealed

The feeling of something solid and familiar was welcome, as was the sound of his mother's voice. Although she was worried and fretting over his arrival, Mesa couldn't help but feel a warmth and a connection as soon as her voice hit his ears; she was everything to him now that Stigmata was gone, and he hadn't meant to worry her. Then again, he hadn't thought about the consequences of his actions—she'd gone off to wander somewhere, and Mesa had felt the need to keep watch over her. He'd lost one parent and wasn't about to let the mountains take another; granted, this time they'd gone beyond the limits of Diaspora.

Mesa had never been outside of the mountain range; that would change in the coming days as Diaspora found a new foothold somewhere, but he knew he couldn't root himself in one place for much longer. If his mother could go places then why not himself? He thought of Ego, suddenly. If he was alive then maybe the boy was on an adventure of his own? What was that like—especially without Takiyok's guidance, attention, and love? Mesa's face darkened with the layered thoughts and he did his best to shove them aside, it was not the time or place for any of it.

I'm sorry, he murmured in response to Takiyok, but shut his mouth and stared as the earth rumbled again. Everything was vibrating for a few seconds and when it died out, Mesa let out the breath he had accidentally been holding. What is that? Why does the ground do that? He blurted as the shaking thinned to stillness.

Are the mountains angry at us?

It certainly felt that way to him.