It comes as no surprise that Reave is not a creature given to philosophy. He has never truly paused to dwell on such abstract musings. Never stopped to imagine whether Taiga might be his home forever. It feels like home, but of course he has never known any other place in the way that he knows Taiga. But by the same taken, neither had he ever felt trapped by it.
Though Lilli had often cautioned him against wandering beyond the borders, Reave had always taken them as suggestions rather than commands. And his sweet and (perhaps too) doting mother had never truly taken him to task for his many adventures. After all, at the end of the day, he always found his way home to curl by her side near the hollow stone that was all that remained of Brazen. But tonight Lilli would not be home, and the knowledge feels rather hollow in his chest. There would be no one for him to curl up against besides the cold shell of his birth mother.
So, in many ways, it would be so much simpler to remain here, lost in this moment with a friend, forgetting that which waited for him at home.
“I would,” he admits after a somewhat lengthy silence, his own expression now contemplative. “But I can always go back whenever I want.”
As the sun begins to fade over the horizon, Reave shifts to stare in the direction of the dense and misty wood hidden behind a short span of stone and scrubby foliage. “I don’t see why we can’t explore the world and come home after.” His gaze shifts back to Cheri, surprisingly sage despite his very brief age. “That doesn’t feel stuck to me.”
Then, with a grin and gentle nudge against Cheri’s cheek, Reave turns and climbs from the water. He doesn’t stand to leave though, instead settling against the warm stone ringing the spring before flopping onto his side to dry his fur in the fading sunset.
“We should do this again Cheri.” He sighs happily, finding himself feeling truly free for the first time he can remember. “This is so much nicer when I can share it with someone.”
reave
@[Cheri]