Emberwood But we open our eyes 'cause we're told that we must

The entirety of Kukulkan's upbringing had been so terribly complex, and his journey northward had offered some sort of relief to that. In the limitless realm of possibility, there was a freedom, a simplicity to it all.

He should have known that it had all been on borrowed time.

They had completed their mission, their mission that had itself become more complicated than anticipated. In more ways than one. As if the young male's brain wasn't rattled enough already, they had returned and he now found himself alone. Bhediya had left, gone to where it was safer until Pyg could no longer be a threat to her. And Ibis... where had she gone? There was a tug in his chest, a twist in his gut, as K contemplated the possibility that she was avoiding him.

But the summons of their beta brought him back into the depths of the Emberwood, away from the idle walks along the edges that kept his brain churning and his blood pumping. Kukulkan entered as Kavik began speaking, picking up on the news about Ibis. Cold washed over him, a fuzz appearing in his peripheries as his heart sunk in his gut. She... was in a coma? Brows furrowed, his head dipped, and he tried to contain the frown he felt itching at his lips. No...

But the subject changed swiftly, and his face warped into an unusually stern and pinched mask as Kavik brushed through the details he already knew. It made his nerves twinge to hear Pyg's name, to hear what he's done repeated aloud. White and red flashed in his eyes, flashes of the encounter. Flashes of Bhediya.

K gritted his teeth.

As others chimed in, he could only look their way before he decided to break his silence and speak. If there was any doubt as to the revealed nature of the white bastard, maybe only the testimony of someone there, someone who faced it, could dispel it.

"He's fuckin' dangerous, aye. Ain't like any sane beast I've seen..." A sharp glance towards Lainie, perhaps more harsh than he actually meant - but his blood was starting to boil within that composed exterior. Turning his eyes from her to Grezig and then to Kavik, he continued, "If'n ya see 'em, I'd like t'be th'first one called." A deep, meaningful stare to the new Archdruid, "He fuckin' got away before, not again." He's a gotdamn threat, 's what he is."

To all.
To Bhediya.
To his... new... family.

Stepping forward, Kukulkan brought himself closer to Kavik, dipping his head a half measure before standing up tall again. "I ain't sure I'ma much use in Council, but I'll do what I can where ya need me. I'll do what it takes t'fuckin' rid the region of tha' white bastard, and--" A pause, a choke in his throat, "-- I'ma... I'ma do what I can t'save Ibis..."

If that meant guarding her sleeping form then so be it. If he had to travel across the Teekon Wilds, beyond it and back, then so be it. How it crushed his heart, his fiery heart, to know his little star-gazing friend had lost herself to such a deep sleep. How his heart was tugged, pulled, stretched in so many directions..

How could he stay idle when so much was wrong?