Totoka River I'm tongue-tied and dizzy

@Jakoul?

He spent two days in the village to rest and eat; when this became too difficult for him, Raimo departed. He told Adrastus where he was to go; that it was with Kukutux' blessing, but that was all. No question was put forth to the man. Only what needed to be said, and quickly. He had no patience for the ghost any longer.

To the quarry he went, to search the night for Jakoul's scent. From there it was easy enough to trace her back towards the coast. Trees well rooted to the dirt became dry stacks in the sand, and from there he went north, the mountains cutting a jagged silhouette in the distance on his right side.

There were no traces of any villages as Raimo travelled. He was sure he had found this place — Yuelong — as he came to the place where ocean became river; but there was no one, only an abandoned den at least a full year old and abandoned. Thinking he had been lied to by Kukutux of all people — tricked, essentially, to be rid of him with some finality — Raimo turned to the sea and swore openly at it.

He then cast back his head and called out in a song, 'I seek my shadow. The one I lost in the stones.' For he did not know the name of the quarry where they had met, or the woman's name, as she had been wordless when they'd met.

She had oft tiptoed the delicate space between sea and mainland in the days that followed. Tempted, tempted, tempted to return back to that star studded place among the strange lands. Perhaps he had looked for her as she looked for him. Except she remained close enough to be called upon by those she now settled with. Though she’d likely only be truly summoned Maegi in this fugue state she entered, full of yearning like a fresh spring.

So perhaps, to any who watched her close in those following days, it would be no surprise to see her slip after the call. A summon of shadows from a stoney place. It filled her with more emotion than she often felt in her day to days.

She would appear in his vision soon enough. A streamline bullet headed straight for him if he did not move.

He did not anticipate a call in return, but hoped, strangely. Having been denied Kukutux and then insulted by both the moon-woman and the sivullik, none had taken kindly to Raimo until the woman of shadows. He paced; he waited, with dimming patience, for any sign that he was in the right place.

Perhaps returning to the quarry would be better, he thought. Had he overshot her hiding place?

What of the forest, could she be found there?

Then there came a feeling, some sort of magnetism maybe, that drew his attention to the white sand beach. Raimo doubted what he was witnessing; out of the mist of the white-capped waves materialized the sharpened features of the woman.

Her racy figure moved to him, to where he had walked a small groove in to the grains. A low sound of both pleasure and invitation heralded her arrival, as he sickled cat-like around her, greedy for the embrace.

She wound herself into his pantherine form. Pressed into every place she could as she sought to mark him once more in her scent and also mark herself with his. A vibrated, needy whine hummed out of her throat at the mere sight — the feel — of him here.

She had worried that she might not have found him again. Granted she had not imagined he would have arrived so close to where she remained these days. It drew questions from her that she was, admittedly, not articulate enough to formulate for him.

She fell back on what she always did. Body language. Her own spoke of tremendous levels of excitement and a desire for more of his presence.

They were similar of composition; vantablack and slinking. He wanted to hold her close and felt his belly tighten with desire for her — but Raimo was here for a reason and as glad as he was to have found her, he had to speak. He had to ask something important; though she was a creature of telegraphed intention and feral silence, he hoped she would have an answer for him.

While snuffling through the sharp notes of her scruff Raimo drank her in, nipping and nibbling, his intention clear enough in the way he merged against her. Through the darkness of her shoulder he says, I want you with me.

A moment later, hooking a forelimb around her nearest leg and holding her in place.

Come home with me. Be mine.

Although she was a creature that hardly spoke, she understood the words crystal clear. She had listened to many speak for years. Not once had someone spoke with the inflection that her shadow did. The weight behind his words.

They somehow made her feel feather light and heavy as stones.

"Come home with me. Be mine."

The answer felt simple in that moment. A greedy whine filtered through as she twisted in on herself to reach for his face, hooked by him with no desire to be set free.

Yet there is things to consider. She had just been blessed with her former Nona, Maegi — who was with plenty children this season, who might have needed her once Morta. The island means little beyond that strong bond, though. However she would not whisk pale priestess away from her new home with child at her side. Even if Jakoul wished to keep them together.

She aimed to bury her face into his thick furs, the warmth of him a welcomed reprieve from a cold seaside breeze she had been living in.

Yours. Hummed deeply into him, as if that might tether them further and solidify with certainty the world he had come to offer her. Need tell island. The one condition and she offered it with a pull away from fur to look at his face.

The need to have her near had not been great when they had parted; there had been something there, brewing like a gathering rain, however it was not until Raimo had found her again that the full gale of his tumultuous fixation began to storm.

He was impatient as he waited for an answer but need not be, as the woman did speak; she was clipped, almost in the manner of Kukutux. Direct, more like it. Raimo was intrigued as much by her voice as by the rest of her.

Yes, tell them, then be mine. He agreed, loosening his grip upon her, letting her settle and gaze upon him. Telling them or not, he did not really care; but he wanted her with him. Raimo's desire for Jakoul was something carnal much like his attraction to Kukutux; he could not have the moon, so he would take the shadow instead.

Time would tell how long his interest would hold.

I can wait for you. Or I can go now, but watch for you among the stones. He gave her this choice. It did not enter Raimo's mind that Jakoul might have bonds upon the island or reason to stay, as he only thought of himself and what he may gain from this decision.