[private] chaser [phoebus]

[Diable Rouge]

Diable Rouge

>

“And I've been trying to find out where everyone's been, but they're nowhere...I'm still nothing."

Diable Rouge had dreamed about AuroraElis every night since their last meeting...since he watched her walk away, back to the Dale. He had wanted to follow her, to chase her to the Dale and finish up their business. However, regrets hung over his head - memories of his fire boy, the other one he abandoned upon his death. Time only heals wounds when the gash is sewn up - this one, however, was left bleeding. 

It had been a few months now. Rou thought he would find Phoebus sooner, but as spring melted into summer and summer faded into fall, the chaser still hadn't found his child. A cruel joke the universe had played on him, to give him all this extra time but failing to produce the child he so desperately wanted to see. He had searched the forest, the field, the river; he'd scoured the Ruins, even looked on the beach for his son's body to no avail. All this brought Diable Rouge to the meadow. 

The trees had begun to shed their leaves and their brilliant shades of gold, ochre, and crimson dotted the meadow as he walked. His hooves crunched through the autumn foliage as he walked, wondering if maybe he should give up and just head to the Dale. Though, if he went there empty-handed, would that be another blow to Aurora's psyche? He couldn't bare the thought of hurting her again, but it seemed like a lost cause. 

The chaser sighs, stopping at a slow-flowing creek to take a drink. He lowers his head, sipping through parted lips and closing his eyes. 

"Dad? What the fuck are you doing here?" 

The words cut through him like a knife. His head jolts upwards, looking towards the sound. His breath catches at the sight of him, much older now than when he had left him. They stood about the same height, and they were colored nearly identical - they could have been twins, if it weren't for Phoebus' flaming armor and his piercing blue eyes, which glare at Diable Rouge with hatred. There's no curiosity, no confusion in his voice, just pure vitriol. Rou's heart pounds beneath his chest, as he tries to come up with words. 

"Son..." He says as they stare at each other from across the creek. "I came back for you...for your mother."

I'm learning how to put the pieces back together, turn the aching to composure

don't mind me just rping with myself lmao

[Phoebus]

Kreation hadn't been back since her abrupt departure. Phoebus had waited in that meadow since she left, eyes never leaving the mountain for very long. The promise of home...the promise of Tephra was enough to keep what nomadic spirit he had at bay. He hadn't had a chance to tell her he would be here...maybe she had forgotten him, but he had no intention on leaving unless word got to him that Tephra was back. So, he made a temporary home here, finding a den not unlike the one he had been born in to shelter him as he waited. 

The den sat in a small, but densely packed stretch of trees overlooking a creek. A few yards away, he had his observation post of the mountain. Everyday he would stretch his legs, watching the sky for his metal acquaintance to reappear. He'd eat the lush grasses, drink from the crystal creeks, but he never strayed too far. Today was no different - he woke up as the sunlight hit his face. He emerged from the den to go to the stream and drink, and had planned on scouring the meadow for any sign of Kreation afterwards. Instead, he found...him. 

Phoebus's dad looked no different than the day he died. At first, the boy of fire thought he must be dreaming. His dad was dead...he saw him. He tried desperately to blink the vision away, but Rou remained, drinking from the stream as if he hadn't been dead for thirty years. Phoebus knew that the fairies, the damn gods must have brought him back. For what reason he didn't know, but rage simmer inside him, threatening to boil over. 

"Dad? What the fuck are you doing here?" He asks. Rou's face makes the boy of fire even angrier - he looks shocked that Phoebus would confront him like that. It makes Phoebus even angrier, his armor starting to flame violently. How could he be surprised that his child was mad? He abandoned them in their worst moments. He never even said goodbye. 

When Diable Rouge mentions his mother, Phoebus's demeanor softens. He perks up one ear and furrows his brow. "But...I thought mom was dead." He says, shame washing over him. To be truthful, he never really looked for her. He assumed she was dead after all these years, especially with the loss of Rou, and the disappearance of...him. 

Phoebus suddenly feels guilty. He still resented his dad, but God had he not done the same thing? Just leave? 

"No, son, she's alive." His father says. The word "son" sends a shiver down Phoebus's spine. Rou was no father...so how dare he call him son? "I saw her...she's in the Dale. But I needed to find you first." Phoebus closes his azure eyes, trying to will away the tears that threatened to fall. Their family, pulled apart by Rou's death, were now here together again? Phoebus turns to look at the mountain, where he believes Kreation still waits for her party. He had no desire to continue talking to his father, not now, not when his emotions were so heightened. But the chance to see his mother again...he didn't want to pass that up. Phoebus looks to Diable Rouge.

"I-I'm waiting for someone here," Phoebus admits, not wanting to clue his father in on the potential for Tephra to come back. "I'll go to the Dale when the time is right..." He turns away from his dad, sighing. "...but not to see you. I'll come to see Mom." The boy of fire gives his father no further words, walking back towards his den to process.