He makes it back at last. To home. His broken and bleeding body very near shaking with the effort as he stumbles about atop the rocks and uneven spaces, jaws parting over and again to call for Mother or Father as his cries echo in the night sky. That he has even made it this far is perhaps a testament to his will alone as his black limbs carry him further and further and away from the terrible place of caves he is sure he will never go to again. He pauses within the shadows of the crags, sniffing at the air, assuring himself Zagan and Kairos have not returned ahead of him as he stumbles further forward and towards the den they had all shared for so long. He had….expected such a thing from Kairos perhaps, at least, in as much as anything of that sort could be expected and yet it is his brother whom had shocked him the most in his actions, his mind numb and stunned still as blood matts in his fur, hard to see against the ebony of his pelt as it merely darkens it further and slickens it’s appearance. He wonders truly, if they would have killed him, truly killed him had he not fought them off- saved perhaps by his superior height and speed in that regard, having managed to kick and throw them from himself several times before fleeing. He was faster then they had been and for that reason perhaps, he is alive.

“Mother?”

He cries for her again as he stops outside the den on shaky limbs, bottom lip trembling in an effort to hold back tears as each shadow makes him gasp and jump in fear of what or who may have found him again, heckles bristling in warning before he turns back to the den entrance. He can smell her here, surely she is within, even father……anyone. He does not know what to do, what to think- though he knows surely he will leave, that the crags are no longer home is certain within his young mind. He is not safe here, not any longer and so he will not stay. Mother cannot protect him, this he knows, they will only wait again until she falls asleep of Father goes to hunt. So he waits for her, Stella, his Mother, so that he might fall against her in the hope of being held- if only just for a moment….



i l i a s Elijah x Stella