Lone Star Mountain abalone

for @Makono, skaigona, muskrat, and @Ezra! no posting order <3 this is set after skaigona and ezra hunt and after @Hex finds @Nutuyikruk on lone star mountain lol

at last they found the woman and her child. she did not look so odd, moving with deliberate swiftness. both of them carried birds.  a successful hunt from the looks of it, meat for the ridge if their meeting soured.

she cast a glance toward the royal eagle, lifting her chin as she stepped from the shadows to confront the thin pale woman with the blaze of red along her back.

two strangers approach them.

ezra's steps halt, chin lifting, grip on his bird tightening. were they being hunted? was this amadeo's doing? though ezra suspects that the dark pelages man couldn't care less about him, he was probably livid that heda had fled rivenwood.

mistrust of amadeo and druid flirt precariously with the line of paranoia; unaided by his missing brother and father.

a low snort pushes out of his flared nostrils; draconian.

vho are you? vhat do you vant? came slightly muffled 'round the bird still clamped possessively in his jaws, his body shifting as if to shield his mother; protective. it was a ridiculous thing, perhaps. skaigona could take care of herself and he, still lanky with legs perhaps a bit too long and broad shoulders he is still growing into ... but he does not care how silly he looks.

strangers. strangers and her son, whirling to face them with his father's heavy accent ready to be wielded.
her own eyes were flat gold and near hateful in this chance to throw some anger from herself by experiencing it.
"we're moving on. that's what you want, right?" skaigona murmured, coming to stand between ezra and the unknown, staring eyes.

when she saw the boy, something twisted and twirled inside of her. in a selfish way she felt as if she looked upon herself. a boy pretending to be brave enough, strong enough. maybe it was not pretend.

if he was like her, it would never be pretend.

but it is his mother, presumably, who earned a look of brewing blue from her. quick to offer words that might have appeased a kinder set.

did either of us say that? a raise of her chin, a tilt of her head in thoughtful consideration. it was not a kindness to draw this out. yet her pleasure rode upon waves of tension. a reminder of her life.

the boy was fierce. his mother was tired but muskrat did not doubt the lethality of her guarding teeth.

the pale eagle spoke, and so she was silent, eyes moving between the child and the woman. each would be a fine captive, but she made no move toward this for now.

annoyance makes its home within ezra's chest, burning as it nests betwixt his ribs. the blonde and cream colored woman that speaks does not answer his question, instead countering his mother's words. ankh gold gaze narrows; burning.

grief and desperation made horrible ( or good, depending ) bedfellows and they currently nestle in his heart; a warring yin and yang.

vhat do you vant? he repeats; demand wrenching itself from his throat. his unease only festers.

ezra's agitation fed her own. skaigona felt assailed by the eyes, by the pulling condescension she thought she heard in that question.
between they and ezra she straightened further, glancing between the pair of them. "we're leaving. are you going to let us go?"
she didn't want a conversation, or to ask them what they thought she wanted; she wanted to be shut of the mountains.

he watches the strangers closely; gaze weary. in the end, ezra assumes, they must not think he and his mother are worth their time. a few more words exchanged and he and his mother are on their way without a look back.