Morningside Cuesta the betrayer
the gunslinger
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It was foolish of the boy to believe that he was enough for his parents. They had wandered fretfully after both Rhakios and Ephraim, searching to find the boys in the mess of their lives. All the while, Illidan had remained quietly by their side, hoping that they would realize he was all that they really needed – he was far more important than his brothers anyway – but with no real means to communicate this. The fevered searching had caused them to be absentminded of him. In this, Illidan had also believed that he could find his brothers without any issue. He had set out on his own and wandered too far from the protective presence of his parents. The dark-hooded boy had found himself lost in a world he knew very little about.
 
Illidan trekked along the river with a searching nose, straying just close enough to the large expanse of open terrain that he could be seen as a dark blot on the backdrop of endless greens. Spring had risen the water levels, so he kept himself away from the edge of the river with a wary expression toward what would have been a churning demise for his youthful frame. The young boy could no longer scent his parents and he could not scent Ephraim either. Frustrated, he sat down with a scowl. He blamed his brother for all of it. Burning, emotional anger filled his insides and he bristled at it, unable to handle the flood that was pouring through him.
Ghost in the woods
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@Kavik for visibility

Liri found him, straying from Kavik's side only briefly to hunt, lost as they had been in the storm.

She'd spent the morning half-hunched, half-balled awkwardly on her uneven amount of legs until they ached from the torment of being locked in place where she hid in the tall swaying grass. When the small creatures had grown so used to her stillness that they foolishly forgot her presence, a soft rustle had alerted her. In her haste to snatch it, she'd nearly torn the wing from her prize - a plump turkey. It had lacked finesse or grace but she'd succeeded in grabbing hold of the flapping creature. 

The child was but a dark smudge on the banks of the river, hunched with some emotion - frustration perhaps. Liri stopped some feet from him, her paws had been leading her back to the gentle giant, resting the fallen bird at her paws. 

The woman, who might have been a mother once, felt concern as she watched the boy with intrigue. He was young enough to face danger if he continued alone, which he appeared to be. Liri did not yet ask for an explanation or for a name. 

The fae chuffed to him, beckoning. "You must be hungry, eat," she says softly, nudging the bird to him.
"i'll keep you here when I lose my mind."
 
 
the gunslinger
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It was the presence of another that startled him from his stupor. First, he noted the bird at her feet with a gleam in the sharp yellow of his gaze. It had been long enough that Illidan craved only the taste of meat and he would have offered his life for even the smallest fraction of that bird. It was good fortune that granted him the company of the pale female. Her coat reminded him faintly of his father, had the old man not been washed with such grey tones. It was his lack of socializing that caused him to bristle further at the sight of her so close to him.
 
It was the offering of food that broke down his walls.
 
Illidan rushed forward with an eagerness that suggested he had not eaten for quite some time. His eyes gleamed at the sight of the bird before his sharp fangs began to rip away pieces of it. The frantic motions that he used could suggest that he was almost feral beyond recognition of having grown up around a structured family. That was because he had known very little structure since having left Grimnismal.
 
“Thank…”
 
Who had taught him manners like that? Surely not the savage wolves that had given birth to him. His hawkish gaze lingered on the white female for some time before he wondered if Ephraim had happened across a similarly kind folk who had offered to tend to him.
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He is a spindly thing, wary at first as he creeps on not so sure feet, surging towards the offering of food when given the chance. Wild and savage, he tears into the bird with gusto. He reminds her, with a small pang, of Leto when he they were children and the sylph feels a small smile crossing her face. 

Her head dips a fraction at his gratitude as she watches the sooty child eat. Questions brew behind her lips but the healer keeps them there until the child has filled his belly. 

"Why are you alone?" The question is mostly rhetorical, he's too young to properly explain and she suspects at his age his vocabulary is limited. The question is for herself and though he's still behind where she left him, Kavik. 

"I suppose you're coming with me now. If you don't mind that so much," she tells him, simply. She doesn't question if he will; she can scrounge up more food when he's hungry and they'll be able to keep him safe.
"i'll keep you here when I lose my mind."
 
 
the gunslinger
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The hooded child was convinced that this pale female knew where Ephraim was. He looked at her, wondering how she could have happened upon him. There was a mixture of distrust and a hint of marveling as he stared upon the woman. Her voice struck him, and he canted his head a bit to the side. She wanted to know why he was all alone; the answer was simple enough, but Illidan didn’t know if he wanted her to be made aware of why he was without his parents or his siblings. There was a part of him that didn’t even know why he had gotten lost from them either.
 
“Ephraim gone…” the boy said in a saddened voice. It was as though that would explain away all of the reasons for him having been out there without supervision. Illidan was still angry, still confused as to where his sandy brother had wandered off to. The dangers of the world were still foreign to him; he knew only the dangers of the bear that had driven them from the grotto. It was confusing to him to try to wrap his mind around the prospect that his parents were frantic in their search for his brother because the world was not kind to the youthful.
 
The pallid female suggested that Illidan was to go with her. He looked at the bird first, then to the strange woman. The boy breathed deeply, hoping that he would be able to find his brother if he agreed to this. He was banking on the chance that this woman would know where to locate his littermate. It was with a silent agreement that the hooded pup nodded his head once and gazed at her expectantly.
Ghost in the woods
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last from me :)

Liri nods silently, a pain for Illidan settling in her chest, at his words. Liri knows the chances of finding this other, Ephraim, are slim. Even Leto had not managed to find her for years and he'd been lost to her again shortly after. She knows little of the love between siblings, having lost all of her own, and gives up on the chance of reuniting them. 

She keeps this to herself. There is a silver lining, she and Kavik will make sure he's safe. If it should pass that they do find his family or he should seek them out later, he will be free to go. For now, Liri will look after him. 

"Come on," she says it gently, with a glance at the water. "I have another with me, Kavik. He's nice." Liri turn to the smoke-capped child with a smile. She takes the remains of the turkey in her jaws, for her giant, and with a gesture of her head for Illidan to follow, treks back in the direction she'd come from.
"i'll keep you here when I lose my mind."
 
 
the gunslinger
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The female offers him a sorry glance that he does not miss. Illidan doesn’t understand why she should appear so fretful of him. The boy was young, and he had only known the hardships that his family had been forced to endure after being chased from the grotto. It was all he expected from his life; if all he had known was that he would be forced to endure, that would be all he would think should come to him.
 
The pallid woman mentioned that she traveled with another. Illidan thought for a moment that it might have been her mate. Was he destined to trade one mother and father for another? The thought forced a burning into his stomach and he gritted his jaw against it. It was what he had to do; he had to see if Ephraim was out there and still alive.
 
Quietly, the boy with the inky hood followed after the unnamed female. His eyes trailed the back of her as he followed behind. The further and further they travelled, the more concerned he became. Perhaps he would never see his family again. Perhaps it was what was meant to be.