Dragonveil Fold dear fellow traveler under the moon

@Pan

The last few months had aged him.

Four felt more like six and the aged marks upon his face surely did no thing to help. Yet he returned to a familiar place that lashed deeper marks upon his heart. He recalled a warm place. He recalled his beloved within this now empty and dark space. Back then it had been a brilliant spot in the shadows of the mountains.

He recalled the youth of his two children. How it had been robbed from them by smoky winds and he had been unable to bring it back. How he had not seen any of them since then. Yet he knew, in some old primal way, that if any of them might find him again it could be here. In a place where they had all began.

Slowly he lowered himself to the earth. Laid down like a stone guard at the mouth of the den. For a moment, a ray of late day sunlight slipped through the clouds and his eyes closed. Yellow light tried hard to push through his eyelids. He could not help but imagine that it was the gaze of a loved one.

The journey here hadn’t been easy. Almost nothing in her still young life had to this point, but Pan was determined not to give up. She knew she would never have made it this far without the aid of others; Luca, Paradise Falls, and the others who had come after. She wouldn’t be here if not for them, and she was grateful.

Being back here though.. was even weirder than it had been to see that coulee as a bigger wolf. That haze, which she now knew had been smoke from something Pan had learned was called fire, was also gone. The air was fresh, crisp, and clean. It didn’t feel like the same place, even though she knew it was.

For Pan remembered running through the fields with Sonnet, practicing songs with mom, or curling up at dad’s side at night to watch the stars go by - when it’d been clear enough to see them.

She had hoped, but not really expected to find anything other than those memories. But when there was a scent, a trail, and then a figure placed almost as she remembered him being outside the den.. Pan almost didn’t believe it.

Was this just another dream? Where she’d get close, only to wake up alone once more? The almost yearling didn't want to get her hopes up.

”Father?” The call left her softly.

@Spartan <3

Yellow. Bright and warm.

He might have allowed himself to succumb to it and the memories it had brought on. Only something caught him off guard. A young voice that let loose a gentle word. A title.

His eyes blinked to clear his vision. Here stood a near-grown child. A coat wrapped around them white as snow and the eyes they bore... yellow. Just as he looked different, so did she. Yet he would have never allowed himself to forget his own child no matter how much time had sprawled between them.

Perhaps it was for the best that he could not (could he?) speak, for he had been left wordless all the same. He only knew that his legs moved beneath him to help him stand again. That his throat rumbled a sound low and warm, not so different from the rumbles he had given them as babes. He dared some steps towards her, but ultimately left it up to her what level of contact she wanted.

spartan does not speak!

He stood, faced her, and Pan dared a step closer. In the waning light of day she studied him, the contours of his face and body. Just like her and this place, he was both familiar and not. He looked tired, sad. Old, maybe? He had never looked like that in her dreams.

Could it be?

Her heart raced faster, face contorting with barely contained emotion. It was also different to look upon him as near equals, at least in height if not build quite yet. The last time Pan had seen him, she'd been looking up. His eyes though, warm and green, still full of the same love they had been when she was a little child. Those hadn't changed.  

Pan had been through much, had grown, learned, and adapted to life alone. But she was still young, for the moment he moved forth she did not hesitate to dart the rest of the way forth and bury her face in his chest to feel his warmth and presence, no longer fearing rejection.

Tears of sadness and joy gathered and fell from Pan's eyes, as the child in her finally felt two things she hadn't had in a long while.

Safe, with him, and loved.

"Father," she spoke again, voice quiet, strained. This was real. He was really here.

He might have dared to think he did not deserve such instant welcomes, but he felt he had earned them. Not once had he stopped feeling like a father. It had colored his world differently and he had grown for it even in their absence. He had brought no more children to this world when he could not lay eyes upon his first.

Now he had one of them, nestled into the crook of his broad chest. He allowed his head to sit comfortably over the crown of her own. Who knew all the things he had not been there to shield her from or prepare her for? He could do those things now, as long as she remained.

His title rang from her lips again and his teeth sought to gently nibble and comb at her head. As if she was not nearly his own size now, as if she had not aged many moons from the last time he had offered such. Child, a wordless thing that he warmly chuffed as his tail had taken to waves behind him.

He did not want to take a step back, but he did, just to proudly look at her in full again. Did she know she carried the radiant eyes of her mother? Or how she was wrapped in the paler, unmarred colors of his younger years.

spartan does not speak!

Here, in this moment with him, all felt right in the world once more. Pan had expected a rebuke, anger, or disappointment directed at her, for wandering off when she should've known better. She had known better. The child could only imagine the worry and stress that must've added to the lives of her parents. But there was none of that. He just embraced her, gently offering comfort and assurance in his presence and gentle touch.

As he had when she'd been younger. A part of her wished she could go back and make up for all of that time lost, though she knew she couldn't. Pan would not lose him again, though.

Slowly, the child was able to control her sobs, reign in her tears and regain some of her composure. With it, though, came a concerning realization that hit her as he pulled away. He did not carry any other scents with him. Where were mother and Sonnet?

"D-dad? Are you.. have you been.. alone?" Worry and hurt for him had now crept into her voice as the question was posed. Had he been by himself this entire time?  

He had expected this. The sunken realization that both of them had been alone. It meant he could only hope and pray that his songbirds had nested together somewhere. Let their mother and Sonnet be safe as a pair in the world beyond. He knew that his children could survive a many great things, but he had hoped they would have had stability a touch longer.

His gaze had grown a touch heavy and a low snort escaped him in a dejected response.

He tried to be quick to uplift his features once more and reach out to her. Hopeful that he could run his nose over wild scruffs of fur. We have one another now, that's what matters, he might have said. Oh how he wished he had the fancier skills of verbal comfort so that he could soothe his returned child. Carefully he gestured towards the mouth of the den and the shaded depths of it.

Perhaps something familiar in a primordial way would comfort her, if he had no words to.

spartan does not speak!

His reaction, or immediate lack thereof.. seemed answer enough. So did his eyes. Pan had learned over the last several moons that eyes were almost as good at conveying messages as words. If there was any room for doubt, that was crushed by the soft noise he made.

It hurt that he’d been alone, too. Pan had hoped, expected that they would all still be together. But it seemed that wasn’t the case. Their little family had been split, but they could still hope that mother and Sonnet were together.

The child would press her nose into his neck once again as he made contact. Her eyes drifted towards the den after he gestured towards it, her mind drifting back to simpler, happier times. When they’d all been together.

His silent assurance was more than enough though, bolstering both Pan’s resolve and her spirits. Still, though, she wondered what he might speak of if he could. What was his name?

Pan would have liked to know, but supposed it didn’t matter all that much. He was father, and he was here. ”I love you, dad.” The child murmured, feeling as if finally a piece of her heart had been restored.

”I promise I won’t leave you again. And maybe.. if we found each other, we can find them too.” For the first time in a while she felt actually hopeful that their whole family would be together again.