Noctisardor Bypass to love is to destroy

The Ashen leader was silent for a moment, silent before he started to speak again. His voice came out croaky and dry and slightly broke at the end, but it was impossible not to hear what he had said. Shadow pressed himself downwards, further downwards, lowering himself with words spoken from his own mouth. He was accusing himself of not being a better wolf, of how the burden deserved to be laid upon his shoulders.

"Shadow," She said gently, her paw hesitant upon his other shoulder. "You are always a good wolf, one of the best I have ever seen, no matter what you do and what you think you do. It was perhaps what was bothering her surpassed all limits and is beyond reach. Maybe you didn't know."

The Alpha rested his head on Crëyr shoulder willingly, his skull lolling about, a hoarse cough following that escaped his lips. He fixed his platinum eyes on her, normally steely, now clouded about with sadness. Then he started on about the Bypass and its condition, then proceeded to the condition of he himself. He told her how he planned to find Paar and talk to her again, no matter what the cost was. Part of her mind wandered to what she thought he would say to her, but that was not the point right now.

When he told the silvery girl that he thought of her as a strong wolf, a small smile graced her lips. She was still in the procedure of deciding whether or not was she proud of what she had grown up to become, and others' opinions valued the most. Yet still she was grateful of what she knew was the gift life was, and she would get through and treasure it, even in the darkest of times.

Following that, Shadow began to speak. It caught Crëyr by surprise, the sudden, startling story, the tale spoken which was both chilling and fascinating at the same time. The words that slipped from his tongue spoke of a boy, a young male wolf, one who had been brought up as a warrior, later on given another small pup to train as an apprentice. The tale spoke of the youngster, who had been joyful, merry, everything a pup wanted to be.

Later on, the boy's father broke the pup's neck as he hadn't taught it to be "obedient". Instead, had he taught the little pup to love him. She caught a flash of Shadow's smile, then, appearing on his features before quickly flitting away, the grin that came before the words that would be burnt into her head.

The boy never cried again and he never forgot what his father taught him, that to love something was to destroy them and to be loved by someone was to be the one that was destroyed."

In this case, who was the quote directed towards? Paarthurnax? Shadow himself?

The girl froze. Had she seen him earlier, trembling, lying on the ground, his face contorted in a expression of grief, yet had she seen tears running down his cheeks? No.

The boy never cried again, and he had learnt his lesson from his father.

It wasn't hard to guess, not at all.

"Another good quality about you, Shadow," She said quietly. "Your heritage, your previous family, your siblings. They are all a part of who you are now. The story is beautiful, mystifying and chilling. Thank you for sharing that with me, although..." She swallowed. "To me, crying does not mean you are weak. It means you have been strong for too long."

When the Imperator came closer and leaned his weight on her, she did all she could to support his weight so he was comfortable. A distant look fixed on her face, her cerulean eyes blinking out, her orbs fixed at some point far in the distance.