Moonspear blood makes atonement for one's life

When she withdrew the world grew still. His throbbing flesh, having flared with a burning pain while he had been standing, began to abate. That or Revui was growing accustomed to the liminal waves of sensation. Either way, he did not hurt as badly as before, and he could focus easily upon her soft voice as Kukutux probed him with questions. It is not a question he has an answer to - or, rather, if he does have an answer it is buried too deep for him to know it. Nobody has ever asked him that before. He is the instrument of Hydra's will, and nothing more. Except in this moment Kukutux is giving him a space to consider his options.

To come home, he states. The man draws a breath and softly shakes his head, not knowing if that's the truth or something he's conditioned himself to say time and time again. He knew - just as well as Hydra knew - that if he wanted to be upon the mountain he would have never left. He would have returned before the world shook, or after being released from his sentence among the Nightwalkers; instead he continued to defy those words and do everything except return home. So, his head shakes. To be strong, like.. Like mother and father, when they were alive.

This comes to him with striking clarity, startling him. The words flow softly. I want my family to be.. Safe, and united, and strong. But again and again I am the weak one, making the wrong choices. I wanted to be strong like father - I should have sought to be smart, like mother, instead. Maybe -- again, he shakes his head. The words falter and he cannot continue.