her mother is safe, but faustine can't stay for long. her children are all with @Cassius ♔, in a land that is yet to be their own. faustine doesn't enjoy the thought of joining the brook or entertaining the whims of its queen, but she's only here for her children and to confirm her husband's loyalty to them. she won't have anything else, not until louve is ready to lead again.

her family will be fractured until then, but they'll return stronger than they were before.

the crocodile princess stops before the border of the brook, her fur matted and darkened by the dirt and mud clinging onto it. she could almost smell her children and cassius here, rising above all else, and calling out to her. @Percival, @Akasha, @Vernon, cassius she says, voice strong yet calm. i am here

[ooc: set a few weeks after wb challenge. the assumption is that the three kids are in vb with cass!]

ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY LARS

He fucking hated this place with a passion. Percy didn't quite care what his siblings thought of the Brook, all he could feel was this anger that ripped through him. He'd done a fairly decent job at harnessing it, but that didn't mean that he was enjoying himself here. He'd been minding his own business, distracting himself by ferociously clawing at a fallen log when a familiar voice wove its way across the distance. "Percival, @Akasha, @Vernon, @Cassius ♔, I am here." Immediately his task of sharpening his claws was forgotten as he bounded across the distance, eager to be the first to greet his maman. And, he was. Percy leaps into the clearing, a broad grin overtaking his features when he realizes he is the first to arrive. "Maman!" He declares before diving directly at her chest, the boy bumping his head against her fervently before he'd pause in his affections. "Where have you gone?" He asks curiously, wondering why on earth it'd taken her so long to get here. Immediately his blood ruby gaze is set to inspect her, making sure there were no new injuries marring her frame before returning back to her face.

@Faustine

Percival

code x art

She would know that voice anywhere.

She had missed it and cursed it all in the same breath, the impatience of a child needing the familiar comfort of her mother and being forced to be without it for far too long. Though it felt like years by her perception, it was only a few weeks after the bluffs had been lost and the trio were brought here to live with their father. And how she despised this place for all it was. It wasn't home, and in the absence of @Faustine, it only made her loathe it more. Why had maman left them here when they should be with her? Elle est là !" She is here! She exclaimed loudly to her father and brothers, tearing herself away from the wicked endeavor of yet another sneak attack upon @Cassius ♔. He would probably welcome the reprieve as the ebony girl darted off into the bushes, disappearing quickly from sight.

It didn't take her long to find the crocodile looming at the border. @Percival had already beaten her here, but it didn't faze her in the slightest. She would rush past him, gently bumping against his shoulder before her entire frame crashed into the front legs of their maman in a fierce hug. Qu'est-ce qui t'a pris si longtemps ?!" What took you so long?! She demanded as she looked up at her mother, pouting and sullen.

_{BG — ART — CODE}

The brook is different. It's flat, foreign, and there's nowhere to hide from the surplus of lions that he doesn't know. He has been huffier than usual, taking out his displeasure on the various bugs that seem to be invariably attracted to the brook's lush conditions.

He has caught himself a butterfly and has taken to pulling off its wings with a disturbing precision when the familiar voice of his mother splits the silence. She is here, his sister exclaims, and he perks up, ears pivoting. Momma! He quickly climbs to his feet, his tiny body closing the distance between him and his mother in clumsy and enthusiastic strides.

He files in quietly, allowing his siblings to say their piece as he gazes at @Faustine reverently. Are you staying? S'il te plaît! He is not above begging; he might take solace from the presence of @Akasha and @Percival, but he feels the absence of his mother deeply.

In the distance he lingers, massive and imposing; his visage hidden within the shadows. Eyes lay locked upon the form of his wife. The meant to be one true love. Yet that was not the case now was it? But maybe it could have been. Maybe the ties he had made would never have come to pass if Faustine had never left his side. If she had never abandoned him.

Though regrets over his choices existed not. If anything, they had not led him astray. Fate had planted the ones he had truly needed before him. Icefang and all her knowledge. Freja and all the strong sons she had provided. Melusina and the unwavering connection she offered up that secretly spoke to his very soul.

Cassius watches on in stilled silence as their children rush to greet their mother. The ungrateful spawn of his that preferred her cruelty over his. And perhaps that too left little room for him to question his decisions. All his other children were his more than they were their respective mothers. The males were to be X'uekai yet it seemed Faustine had failed at upholding her end of things.

Mon amour. The words dripping passed his lips within his approach. You are late. The children have missed you. Whatever darkness that lurked beneath the surface for this female was kept tightly leashed. For now.
And I, more so. Presently he moves to her side, muzzle pressing into the side of her neck.

Come. Allow me to welcome you to the Brook. The very sentence leaving his stomach in near convulsions.

@Faustine @Percival @Akasha @Vernon

Art by Rabbit, Code by Minxy