Blackfeather Woods a distant ship smoke on the horizon

She reacted with a snap, not physical in nature but verbal, and set his ears back with a flutter of nervous energy. He had not anticipated such an outburst from her; but really he should not have been surprised, they had both been through too much and were hurting in deep ways neither could understand. Mou's expression softened, and then came the apology—already her jab was forgotten.

As Maegi stood up Mou watched the compressed soil where she had previously been, his single eye sleepily half-lidded.
—It's not our home, but it once was— her words were disjointed as they reached him, drifting around him like a fog that he breathed in; otherwise Mou showed little change. A deep breath. As he focused on swallowing the dry-mouth feeling on his tongue he did not hear the tail end of her words.

He did stand up, though. Slow and rickety; looking so much older than he was, skinny legs and ragged coat smeared with grass and dirt. Did the ashes of their lost home still cling to him, he wondered...? Okay, he half-groaned, and moved to perch his chin across her back, his long face draped near her hip—I go where you go, always.

As if that needed to be said.