Eyes can not leave the boy before him and he couldn’t really call him a boy. Did she even wait to conceive this child? He seemed to be about the seven, give or take a few years which meant that she got pregnant soon after he left. The gall of his Dragon! Anger flashes so hot and quickly that it takes him by surprise. Stomping down on it before it reached his eyes, he wonders if her actions could have been because of him. Did she recoil from his perceived abandonment by running into that wolf’s embrace? Had her passion due to his misdeeds caused this?! He needed several herbs at the moment, and not the kind you give to all. Oh no, he needed those special mushrooms that took reality away.
His voice causes the lad’s head to snap up, diverting his attention from nosing the nearby plants to giving Leo his undivided gaze. It was then that Leo’s world tilted then disintegrated into a pile of ash. This pup, this wolf, was his. Those eyes are only passed down, they are his ancestors, his to give to his children should he have any….that night. Heart races fully now and what was once a stoic expression leaks to the surface as he stares at him. He stares as if he could memorize him, as if he could discern his life from just a few moments. A urge to touch him materializes and he takes a step forward to do so when words stop him from making a mistake.
Daughter.
He had grandpups as well. Oh no. His Dragon had been all alone with these pups. With his pups. How many did she birth? Did they all live? ”How many?” His voice is low and faltering as his mind struggles to wrap its mind around the fact that he had grandpups, and he had children. What did they like? Did they fight? Did they love? How old were they? ”How old are you son?” He had called the lad son, but really that was a term of endearment right? He would not think much of it…did he want him to read into it? Now that posed another question…did his children want to know him? Should he even try to make contact…what was the point exactly?
The lad keeps on talking and the pain within his heart turns critical as his words are choked. ”No, I am useless in this area but I will help you look. Three parts you say….five leaves…lets see.” He trails off, dipping his snout to the earth as he begins to snuff through the vegetation. At least he gives a grand show of it as he falls in step beside his son, his eyes drinking in his depressed son. WAIT his granddaughter is sick. ”What is wrong with your daughter?” His rough tones soften some as if they are trying to soothe. Internally he kicks himself, he is years too late to be of any help to his son but maybe it is not too late for his grands. Slowly they make their way several paces before he comes across a patch of rather pungent plants each bearing five leaves. ”Is this it son?”
Oh how he wished for the plant to be the one. To know that he helped his family in some small way. A parting loomed large for if the plant was the right one then he would surely head back to his daughter. And Leo had every intention of letting his son go. Such a good father his son had grew into…Dragon had done well and before he could stop himself he uttered several words that could possible seal his fate. ”Tell your mother boy, that her shadow said she done well.” With that he turns, possibly forever on the one comfort he has known in years…his son…his blood…his Dragon borne.