making every nerve quiver; any

[magnus]

— find what you love and let it kill you —

This land is beautiful, but it is foreign, and Magnus finds he had not acclimated to it—not yet.

The humidity reminds him of the Jungle with each breath, the air thick and hot in his throat. It brought back a flood of memories of his youth, the wildness rattling his pulse so that he felt the need to run until he no longer could, until his legs trembled and his breath came out in swallowing gasps. But, even so, this was not the Jungle. The air had the bite of sulphur in it, the intensity depending on where you stood. The land was wild, but not with tangles vines and crying wildcats. It was wild with rivulets of magma that carved out their own paths; it was wild when the ocean grew restless and crashed along its shores. It was beautiful, chaotic—and, in time, Magnus is sure he will grow to love it as he has loved all of his homes.

But not yet. It is not home just yet.

Still, that does not stop him from learning the boundaries of the new land, of beginning to make a habit of walking the expanse of it. In many ways, the journey takes more of a toll than the daily trip he made around the Gates, where the landscape was less demanding, the radius shorter. But, here, he feels that they are more secluded, their borders safer. While he liked to walk the entire scope of the land, he concentrated his day mostly on the piece closest to the meadow where visitors were more likely to arrive.

It is during these travels that he sees the pair that he had spotted at the meeting, clearly stamped with at least some of Offspring’s looks, and he alters course to go near them. They were clearly in play, their brash behavior more evidence of their youth than even the coltish proportions of their bodies, and he found himself smiling, scarred lips rising crookedly in amusement. It made Tephra feel even more of a home to witness their games and laughter ringing through the land and putting his troubled heart at ease.

Perhaps, they would be okay after all.

He does not interrupt them—not yet. Instead he places himself off to an angle, head leg gently cocking as his tail flicked at his side. In time, perhaps they would notice the golden soldier observing them with a kind gaze—perhaps they wouldn’t. Either way, he was content to watch over them casually, gaze flicking every so often toward the border and the surrounding area to ensure that they were indeed safe at home.

magnus