I MUST ISOLATE YOU

isolate and save you from yourself

He maneuvered like a ghost through the twists and turns of the cave system. Janus, for better or for worse, had mastered the art of disappearing completely. There was a pain in his heart, the pain of memory, remembering-- the male let a deep, savage growl rumble from his throat. Upon seeing Cato's face in Taviora, what he now knew to be the land of his birth, he had felt a feeling like no other.

It was the feeling of belonging. But his illusions of belonging had been shattered when he realized that really, he didn't quite belong anywhere. Cato and him had spoken some but eventually, the tear-marked brute had taken his leave. It was too painful to remember, to feel as though he had missed out on what could have been. And perhaps he was a ghost, flickering in and out of existence as he passed through hundreds of different realms in the darkness of the grotto-- because he'd been thought dead, along with his sister. Cato and the father he remembered had given up on finding them. Janus wasn't sure if that was justified, but either way, he couldn't stop the resentment that it brought him.

Janus was unsure of how to feel. He wasn't positive that he was wanted or needed in their lives, now, but he wasn't positive that he wanted to be involved either. Many of his memories were still murky, but at least he knew that his life didn't start bloody on some ledge in Spirane, tangled up with his sister who'd been his only connection to the life they might have had before. Guilt and resentment built up in him, pressure that was always on the brink of erupting. He growled again, shaking his head, before his ears swiveled to catch the voice of someone unmistakable.

His heavy steps echoed through the caverns as he charged towards her, huffing and growling with concern. Aine was found soon enough, laying on the floor nearer to the entrance, and Janus immediately stuck his nose into her fur. The male examined her thoroughly for any signs of additional injury, running his black nose through her pelt. "Aine," he growled, sternly. "Maybe you should stay up in the mountains. Least you're safe there." He pulled back slightly, staring at her with his glittering, void-like eyes. They were as mercurial and unreadable as he was. "You feel okay?" As much as he wanted her to stay put, needed her to stay put, he also needed her here. But Janus wouldn't expect her to give up her life in Spirane, not for him or anybody else. She deserved to be happy.

ROMAN x MORRIGAN | PROTECTOR OF NONE | MARTYR FOR NONE | AINE'S GUARDIAN