He can feel himself changing, his metabolism slowing and his mind growing sluggish. He had felt like this before, just before he settled into a hibernation which lasted for months - when he had failed to find his father and sister in the forest and he had no reason to go home.

He would have to find a place to pass the moths in safety once the sleep took him; somewhere he would not be disturbed but where she could find him if she tried. But not tonight, not yet. 

One more night of waiting wouldn't hurt anything. 

He settles like a boulder to the earth, the dark mass on him sinking into the sand with a grunt.  A season or two had passed (it was so hard to tell the season in Tephra when you just don't care) since his Rapture had left him without a word, just when he thought his life was falling into place.

Dusk falls over Levi's secluded key and he lies on the beach watching the main island. Canals of molten lava glow in the distance, adding an orange hue to the highlights of his mahogany pelt. In these quiet moments his mane and tail burn low, little more than smoldering embers. But he pulls a thread of flame from his crest after some time has been spent in silent observation, his mind having wandered to where it inevitably would.

The wisp of fire, suspended by magic in front of him, spins and twists as he experiments with shape and form, his features tense with concentration. The flame takes on volume, supple curves and clean lines, and his eyes soften along with his shoulders as his tiny creation becomes recognizable. 

With just a hint of a smile he spins her gently, the little figure of the girl he can't get off his mind. 

Levi