Blacktail Deer Plateau ever he is, who takes his seat so close

He tasted blood, and whatever frenzy possessed him quelled immediately. In place of his mother he saw some other figure - or figures, it remained unclear, dizzying, disorienting - until Erzulie spoke his name and drew him back to himself fully. The more she spoke the less affixed he was to the terror in his breast, and he found himself staggering backwards from her shove, worming his way low against the dirt. He blinked quickly, sucking in air and yet staring at the ground as if he had never seen it before; he wasn't in Tortuga now but he was home, he was -- he was with his mother.

While she was demanding answers, rooting him to the spot with a gorgon's glare, he could only sag against the dirt and let his rapid breathing de-escalate slowly. His heart was a shuddering mess which calmed as quickly as it had begun - yet he did not answer. Instead he shot her a timid, worrisome glimpse of the eyes and could not hold his attention upon her face for long; he was shaking his head, clenching his teeth tight around the flecks of blood lining his gums. Refusing outright to explain himself.