Bearclaw Valley There is nothing more lonely than an action taken quietly on your own

Hope you have time for a thread, and hope it's cool I assumed Aventus found Merrick in this post! If either isn't okay, let me know!

In the aftermath of Evien's bloody demise, and Merrick's confusing reaction, Aventus brooded. He tried to tamp down the pain in his chest when he thought of the chocolate-furred healer by absorbing himself in other tasks: pacing around the boulder or running after a crow or scraping the valley's bottom for easier prey. Anything to keep thinking about the healer. Evien had been kind. Evien had told him he wasn't in trouble, even when he should have been.

It was done, and it hurt, and he didn't understand.

Eventually he searched for the dragon, collecting his thoughts and silently rehearsing what he must say. Merrick had wanted this, so he didn't need to feel nervous, but he did anyway. It was that familiar bone-deep feeling that his sire would burn the world, him included, at any misstep. And utilizing the bear instead of his teeth was certainly that.

Father, he bid when he found the man and ghosted forward, looking reverently upon the red-brushed back of his sire's neck and lowering his head accordingly.