Mother... Silent cries, drowning against faith of his lover, but feeling lost, broken, alone. No other may take his soul, his heart torn from its chasm, beating hollowly without his lover's embrace wrapped around the red organ. Desire to see his mother burdens him, having been so long away, gone now for some time without seeing her, nor Hero or his father. Not even hide nor hair of his other siblings.

Vast amounts of empitness consume him. Bitter about Eurielle's displaced presence, yearning for comfort against his mother's arms - a mother's boy, always and forevermore. Against the borders of Morrigan's mountains (thusly they'd become ages ago) he calls for @Faelyn, beckoning his small, aging mother to his presence.

Since childhood she is his save haven, a soft place to fall. Together they'd seen their home fall, displaced to the mountains where his mother stayed. Cool air, despite summer's onslaught of reaching hands, ruffles extra hairs against his elbows, tousles rusted locks. Two different colored eyes peer from the deep mask, marking his heritage, as he awaits the embrace of his mother.

Not to join her, as much as she'd enjoy having his presence. More to fill gaps, spaces between times he's abandoned her upon the peaks. Long ago... so long ago... I'm a terrible son.

art ♥ code

The snow falls soft

drawing the world down to a whitened hush, forcing us to pause long enough to take stock of everything that we miss in our crazed pursuit to gain everything that we can. One would say she is a woman who wears a gown of winter frost that blinds the eyes.

She always came at their call. The day she didn't was the day she was dead, and even then she would still respond to their summons, just as Kito had that day they had all trekked up the mountain to see her. There wasn't anything on this plane of existence or the next that would keep her from her children.

So, naturally, it wasn't long before her small frame appeared, hustling towards the border. She might have been getting up there in years, but she could still move quickly when she wanted to. Like now.

Baka! she exclaimed as she got closer, not slowing down until she drew close enough to rear onto her hind legs and attempt to throw her forelimbs around his shoulders in a hug. It was always so good to see her wayward sons. Though she would never try to guilt them into staying, perhaps she did so unintentionally with the sheer delight she showed whenever they returned to tell her of their travels.

She looked him over, as always searching for signs of injury, too many years spent as a healer for the family to not do so automatically. But she was satisfied when she found none. No physical ones, anyway.

@Bakarea

It is growing cold

code by corvus

Mother's were ever important, necessities of life. Without them none of them would exist, except for those blessed by Maua. Each time his mother came there was something smaller about her, as if age made mortality clearer.

A smile graced copper lined lips as the small form crested a rise, bringing a flutter of joy. Every time felt as though they'd spent years apart, even if he tried to keep it to months. Although this past expanse of time felt much longer than usual.

White arms wrap around his neck, snug fits that left him leaning into the embrace; however, not returned too roughly, to prevent accidentally toppling his mother over. "Hello mother!" Now lips cracked wide, revealing a toothy grin of equal excitement upon seeing her fluffy face. Always quite enchanted upon seeing family, pulled inwards toward Illyria Summit.

"I've news," he's quite fervent to explain his newfound love, loyalty cast to a woman he hardly knew, yet somehow found himself bound to. "I found myself a woman." For Eurielle was far more than just a woman; she was a queen, a goddess. An enchantress whom stolen his heart from his chest, still beating within the palm of her hand. "A wife." Not that he'd asked for the sealing bonds of loyalty, coveting this woman to himself, never to be touched or touch another within her lifetime again that was not himself.

"We've not married yet," soft tenor voice rushed to assure his mother that she'd not missed such an important event in his life. Never would he allow such a condemnation to occur.

art ♥ code

The snow falls soft

drawing the world down to a whitened hush, forcing us to pause long enough to take stock of everything that we miss in our crazed pursuit to gain everything that we can. One would say she is a woman who wears a gown of winter frost that blinds the eyes.

Surprise visits from her children were always so lovely. If there was one benefit to them all living in different places these days, it was that she got to meet up with them on occasion and find out all about what was going on in their lives. And it was always such a surprise too, which made her life all that much more eventful in these twilight or golden years, whatever one preferred to use to describe them.

Oh, that's wonderful! she exclaimed, delighted that he'd found someone for himself. She so wanted her children to be able to experience the same happiness she'd found with Roan, and perhaps even form little family units of their own. What is she like? Please tell me everything about her, she said, settling in for the conversation. She very much wanted to know all about this wonderful woman.

She was glad she hadn't missed the wedding, though she wouldn't have been too upset because she was well aware whirlwind romances were entirely possible, and that some were able to figure out they cared for one another more quickly than the several months to a year it had taken her and her mate. Perhaps the only thing she would have been upset about would have been not being able to meet the woman beforehand, though not because she would have levied judgement upon her but simply because it was always nice to know what sort of family one was marrying into.

@Bakarea

It is growing cold

code by corvus

Age wore on thoughts, noting his mother's appearance. Not frail necessarily, but thinner, not as pristinely cut from that same mortal cloth as he remembered her. Shame dropped upon his shoulders, weighted reminders of his missing years with his parents, valuable time.

Excitement fills the space between them, he settles on his haunches much like his mother, ready for conversations long overdue. "She's strong and so pretty." Much stronger than me. There were some things he might leave out, opinions he knew might bring forth motherly chastisement of his self-image. "Sometimes she's not very open about things. I think sometimes she's sad about life." Though they traveled together, never far from one another, there felt a haunting distance between he and his bride. Echoes of a past that brought Eurielle pain that he did not know. "I don't know that she's the man she thinks I am. I'd like to give her a place to live. Somewhere we can all be together, but I don't know if I'm strong enough to lead a pride like Dad." For him, the legacy to live up to under the Hodari name was quite large. Although he held the stature of an able-bodied soul there lacked a rugged brutality that was occasionally needed when it came to running a pride.

Single-minded towards Eurielle, he felt need to prove himself worthy of such a goddess. Pressed to become more than what he'd been, to rise as someone worthy of recognition, to grace this land with his parents' legacy.

@Faelyn

art ♥ code

The snow falls soft

drawing the world down to a whitened hush, forcing us to pause long enough to take stock of everything that we miss in our crazed pursuit to gain everything that we can. One would say she is a woman who wears a gown of winter frost that blinds the eyes.

Times like these, she felt the weight of her years more acutely. All that she had seen and lived through, both the good memories and the bad. Mostly good, thankfully, but quite a bit that had been stressful and yet had ended up good. So as he spoke of his future wife she felt as if she understood exactly how the woman felt sometimes.

Sometimes bad things happen to good lions, she said. It was an unfortunate fact of life that the people who deserved it the least sometimes got the worst hand. Some are... more prone to periods of sadness than others. She didn't know if it was necessarily due to their past or simply something that happened to them that was out of their control emotionally. Perhaps both.

Those memories of Roan fighting for the Rainforest and then the Hollow returned to her as @Bakarea spoke of wanting to take a pride. There were so many families within the lands that had members wanting to do the same thing, it became difficult to find a place for everyone. She wished it were simpler. She wished she could simply hand him what he wanted, but that had never been within her power.

You have much of him in you, she said. And that worry only means you'll try all the more to be a good and just ruler. It may take some tries, though. The lions around here are skilled fighters, I know that much. You may not succeed on your first try, but that simply means you have to keep trying, if that is what you really want. She wasn't going to lie to him and say that it was easy. She knew it wasn't. At least he had it easier because he wouldn't smell of the Summit when he went for a pride, and didn't have to worry about alliances and rivalries, politics dragging him down before he even got started. He could just decide what area he liked best.

It is growing cold

code by corvus