Grey and gold head tilted to the side as she looked up at him from the sand. His easy nature grew even more relaxed in her presence. There were not barriers he needed to hold around her, to tests to take, and nothing to prove. Corners of his lips curled upward at her teasing. Indeed, busy paws led to new discoveries and worlds otherwise unknown. Then I guess we must remain busy. He responded oddly thoughtfully. His tone matched her teasing, but the words held deeper meaning than possibly even he knew. A life of constant wonder and wander could quiet or brighten the shadows of his mind and nightmares. With a focus outside of himself he would possibly be able to find a deeper purpose than what had so far been given to him through his life in Glorall. More than simply having the will and the power to be, there had to be more to himself. He would one day be able to find it. The thought and the dream of light flickered through his young mind. A small seed whisked away by the winds of his thoughts as he snatched at it, desperate to grasp it, tend to it, and watch it grow. But his youth and naivety too fresh to have the skills to do so. Though for his age he was far more thoughtful than many.

The heathen shook his head, clearing his thoughts of the chase for deeper meaning and returning to his sister. Drawn by her own deeper thoughts he felt himself pulled into them as if a siren were calling him into the depths of the ocean of thought. The sheer number of secrets the waved would hold had the boy’s head whipping back with the impact of the force of thought. Fangs and teeth snapped at his consciousness, creatures he could never dream of. Joys of flight through the waves and playful laughter in a language he could not understand. The shift of world eons in the past and lifetimes in the future. Copper eyes spun to lock on the smooth ocean surface and he took a deep breath, steadying himself. Think of the things it has seen, and the things it will see. The worlds it touches that we cannot see or comprehend. His heartbeat deep, hurting with the force of the pulse of the world. The boy cringed with the phantom feeling, hoping one day it would subside, much like the constant nightmares of the unknown, as he started to learn and discover its meaning. He refocused on his sister, listening intently to her troubles in an attempt to pick them apart, or just to listen to them and hear what she had to say. Sometimes, he knew, it was best just to speak and have someone listen without another sound between them. Nothing save the soft rush of the waves on the sands.

Pagan became visibly concerned at her words. Never would he have wanted to hear Adonai suffered from the terrors he did. Had he the will, he would have taken those troubles from her upon himself so she could spend her nights merely thinking the thoughts she spoke now instead of fearing them. I am sorry, sister, that they torment you as well. With nothing else to offer save his empathy, he watched her as she approached the ocean’s waves. Quietly, he followed behind her, looking down as the water brushed against his paws as well. Did she feel the life in it as he did? Could she feel part of herself lap and recede with the water? Was she as tied to the world as he was? He looked back up at her and he suddenly smiled, using his paws to create a little splash. Consume you whole? Or welcome you as part of its own? Knowing his own answer, he jumped forward into the deeper water. His breath made him buoyant, and large paws propelled him forward. At times he broke back through the surface to breath, like the dolphins he would watch off the coast. One with the water as much as he was one with the earth, he moved through it and splashed his paler sister when he got close enough. Inviting her to celebrate this watery world with him and leave the nightmares of the night in the air of the earth, where it could disperse.