Shadow Mountain beyond the point of no return

They no longer had a home and the reality of that would slowly creep in, but for now Mou took comfort in the connection between them - they had survived, they had one-another and even without the dark woods, that connection kept them strong. When she folded against him he stood stalwart, then sickled his body around her, covetous of that physicality and that connection. He was here; he needed her to know that, to trust he would never leave no matter what.

That Maegi would bring him here, to this terrible place, back to this memory where she had been so brutalized, showed she trusted him. Their relationship had spanned the wilds; their love strengthened by each hardship shared, and she now shared this deep and dark aspect of herself. He sighed against her. He kissed at her cheek, her throat, and then stagnated with his head aligned against her, listening to the thrumming of her heart.

He could not speak, but, Mou tried to move his lips and convey to her: I love you.