All things settle in time. All things return to the places they belong. When the war had ended and the blood had drained into the soil, Vineine had left again. She has always been a wanderer. Fiero could never make her stay. He wonders if he will ever see her again. But, this time, she has not left him so alone. This time his children are here.
They cannot stay in the Amazons, though it has kept them safe and warm. Without Vineine, the jungle is hollow, like the other side of the bed. Fang cannot understand, and Fiero hopes he never has to. He hopes his son never has to feel the heartache of loving someone who cannot stay. And maybe the fault is not hers, but his.
Why had he not followed?
What is left for him here?
He looks to his children and sees. They need her, but they have him. He cannot leave them.
Fang will be okay, but Longear… Fiero worries about her so. Since Vineine’s leaving his daughter has remained mostly in her rabbit form. Fiero does not know how to help his daughter. There is nothing he can say to bring her mother back, and how long it has been since he had helplessly tried to comfort his sister when their parent’s had gone.
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The kingdoms have shifted since the war. Heaven’s Gates now sit beneath a darker power. Fiero has distanced himself from the politics of kingdom life for some time now, but he cannot help the pang in his chest when he thinks of his birth home. He tells Fang and Longear of their grandmother, Joelle, and their grandfather, Magnus. He tells Fang of how he first fell in love with Vineine and how she smelled of autumn honeysuckle and earth.
Fang chases bugs and gags when his dad talks about his mom.
He has never been outside of the Jungle, and the openness of the world is startling. It’s as if he is reduced to infancy, suddenly without the loving, secure arms of a mother. He wants to return into the Jungle heat, into the cover where he is safe, but his father tells him the Jungle is not their home. Fang does not question, only follows his sire into territories unfamiliar. In time the world will not be so daunting.
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The Meadow is the shore that all things eventually wash up on. Some come from far away kingdoms, others from herds. Fiero comes from heartbreak. Magnus comes from death.
He does not know what to say when his father comes into his line of sight. There is no surprise. There is no tearful reunion. His heart is too shattered for that. Wordlessly, he comes to stand beside his father with Fang and Longear in tow. How strange that Magnus appears younger than his son. Fiero’s youth has left him long ago. But there is an inkling of Fiero’s former self within his adolescent son.
They cannot stay in the Amazons, though it has kept them safe and warm. Without Vineine, the jungle is hollow, like the other side of the bed. Fang cannot understand, and Fiero hopes he never has to. He hopes his son never has to feel the heartache of loving someone who cannot stay. And maybe the fault is not hers, but his.
Why had he not followed?
What is left for him here?
He looks to his children and sees. They need her, but they have him. He cannot leave them.
Fang will be okay, but Longear… Fiero worries about her so. Since Vineine’s leaving his daughter has remained mostly in her rabbit form. Fiero does not know how to help his daughter. There is nothing he can say to bring her mother back, and how long it has been since he had helplessly tried to comfort his sister when their parent’s had gone.
----
The kingdoms have shifted since the war. Heaven’s Gates now sit beneath a darker power. Fiero has distanced himself from the politics of kingdom life for some time now, but he cannot help the pang in his chest when he thinks of his birth home. He tells Fang and Longear of their grandmother, Joelle, and their grandfather, Magnus. He tells Fang of how he first fell in love with Vineine and how she smelled of autumn honeysuckle and earth.
Fang chases bugs and gags when his dad talks about his mom.
He has never been outside of the Jungle, and the openness of the world is startling. It’s as if he is reduced to infancy, suddenly without the loving, secure arms of a mother. He wants to return into the Jungle heat, into the cover where he is safe, but his father tells him the Jungle is not their home. Fang does not question, only follows his sire into territories unfamiliar. In time the world will not be so daunting.
-----
The Meadow is the shore that all things eventually wash up on. Some come from far away kingdoms, others from herds. Fiero comes from heartbreak. Magnus comes from death.
He does not know what to say when his father comes into his line of sight. There is no surprise. There is no tearful reunion. His heart is too shattered for that. Wordlessly, he comes to stand beside his father with Fang and Longear in tow. How strange that Magnus appears younger than his son. Fiero’s youth has left him long ago. But there is an inkling of Fiero’s former self within his adolescent son.