My tail waved back and forth at the interest in his voice about my recent hunting endeavors. Ears perked and my heart swelled, beating apace as a smile crept across my features. Maybe he was here for more than just to check in and make sure I was doing my duty for the pack. He seemed genuinely interested in my ventures into more unique prey. "The barbs that stingrays use to defend themselves with seem to have some kind of numbing agent," I was eager to share the discovery with him, and it was surely reflected in the tone of my voice. My brows furrowed slightly then, "But since Hadrian left I haven't really had any healers to bring my catches to." It was disappointing to only have this one thing to share with him from my months of work. Sure, I'd caught sea turtles and figured out how to break their shells apart to create a sort of sled or dish to use for moving things or holding water, but there really wasn't as much to tell him about healing as I'd put on.

So I turned his previous question around on him, wanting to know where he'd been and what had been occupying his time so much. I wanted to just ask why I hadn't seen him in so long, but went a more roundabout way of trying to find out instead. Brows furrowed once more as he admitted that he hadn't been all that busy until recently - well if he hadn't been busy, where had he been? He went on to explain that Eden wanted him to visit the new leaders of Asteraia and Iromar, and I nodded. Almost automatically I added an, "I see," to the sentiment of nodding in understanding, slipping back into that familiarity with him and the notion that he could not see my affirmation, needing to hear it instead.

I blinked at his follow up question, unsure how to answer at first. I could sense that he wasn't asking if I wanted to take a trip somewhere just to visit. It wasn't that he wanted to know if I had considered going anywhere, but rather he wished to know if I'd thought about leaving. Leaving Glorall? Leaving Moladion? My nose twitched. "I thought about it when Eden first took control of the pack. All of my family left, and I nearly followed them. But I stayed, I made a home for myself here." It wasn't really a firm no, but I hadn't really had any reason to think about leaving Glorall in recent years. This was my home. Maybe if Eden fell and some intolerable wolf took his place but...I couldn't imagine that happening. Eden was a strong, worthy leader in my eyes. Haziel, though - he'd returned here when Eden first took over, coming from Asteraia. He'd lived in Glorall when I was a child, though I hadn't known him then, but left when Iblis had established the grasslands pack.

Realization dawned on me. He'd left Glorall before. Now, with Iblis' son ruling Asteraia, would he leave again? My heart stopped, tail frozen and eyes fixated upon his face. "Are you leaving me?" I couldn't even muster the energy to hate myself for asking him that, for letting my tongue get away from me without putting any real thought into it. I should have asked if he was leaving Glorall, not me. I should have worded it differently. After all, he couldn't leave me when we weren't even really together in the first place. But that knowledge didn't make the lump in my throat any easier to swallow.