He didn’t comment further about the presence of other mortals- in fact, if anything it caused him to have a moment of inward contemplation, where he wondered at the deaths of his Mother and Father. Were their deaths inevitable, just the same as their rebirth? He had never truly thought of such things and had merely accepted their presence as eternal and all consuming. He was learning much on this day with his newfound companion. It would not end there, either, for she offers more of herself up to him by way of expressing her ambitions. Eros had not known of such things in his lives, for in the first there hadn’t been enough time for such things and in the second it had been entirely impossible. Now in the third, he didn’t even know where he could begin to start with such a thing as ambition, and he watched her intently as he willed himself to understand. You have a tool still yet; you’ve given me many a lesson this day. His sincere tones matched his face for he willed her to believe him, even as she elaborated on her hunger.

The way she described it seemed familiar to him and it didn’t take him long to figure out why that was. The tone reminded him of her, of the one who had kept him imprisoned for so long. Ren was willful, that much he was certain of, but she was nothing like the creature that haunted him. Such a comparison was an insult, and as quickly as the unbidden thought had come he’s tossing it away. He does not want to think of Sore, for she had already stolen much time from him. His life was his own and he had no intention of sharing it in such a way ever again, not if he could help it. In an attempt to distance himself from the direction of his thoughts, he’s revisiting her question to him though it doesn’t exactly aid in said distance. If anything it’s turning the attention back on what he doesn’t want to think about- but she had been completely honest with him up to this point, or so it seemed, that he had no intention of refusing her.

I have no plans, but I do know that one day I will return to the home I once knew by the ocean. To be me, I think, is the way to even the score and live this life for my own. He didn’t know if he had made much sense to her, but the words felt as whole as he felt in those moments, for even while he faced the truth of it head on- there was no deafening silence he had been subconsciously waiting for. There was no muffling to his awareness nor feeling of drowning without that last desperately needed breath. He let out an audible sigh at the realization, and only then as he relaxed did he notice the stillness of the world around them. The day was truly drawing to its close as the last drops of rain dripped from leaves overhead and the insects previously enjoying the sporadic flowers drifted away to find their place of home. The clearing gave way to the tree line that they approached and she gives him her answer to his last question. She supplies a literal answer for him, which had not been what he’d expected but he accepts the information all the same.

It would seem that she would choose an acceptable place for some rest, though for some reason there was an anxious pull in the back of his mind. Eros had yet to experience much in the way of care toward another individual, and though he had just met her Renja was truly the first wolf he had ever had an actual conversation with in this lifetime. That meant something, and though what that something was he did not know, but he knew that the thought of her resting alone in the night wasn’t something that sat well with him. He wrestled with himself in those moments, for while he wanted to say something in regards to his thoughts he also knew that the wolf he had met was entirely capable all on his own. This social interaction business was particularly puzzling the further he delved into it, and in a way it was all rather difficult for him to process. He hadn’t needed to do such things up until now, and he felt inexperienced and some amount of shame as a result. These were also new to him, and all at once the feeling of being overwhelmed is lurking just beneath his skin. And all at once, he’s withdrawing into himself if only slightly, unwilling to cross too deep into this new territory for now. Power will await you wherever you go, this I know, for you have handled this stranger greatly today. Though strangers, I know, we no longer are.

He hopes that in this manner he turns the conversation away from himself to focus on her, if only so his own feelings don’t entirely overwhelm him. Though he does not know it, the experience has been entirely exhausting as much as it has been entirely good, and there’s a slow weary sensation that creeps up his limbs and burrows into his bones. He hadn’t known how tired he was, and though he does his best to keep it from his face he knows that it just barely shows through. I think you have much to do, Ren, and all the time to do it. Eros doesn’t know exactly where the cryptic words have come from, but they are the truth that he speaks all the same. Eyes made of glacial ice turn upward into the coming darkness of the night sky and what he can just make out through the branches overhead. The clouds from the now passed storm are rolling on their way, and in their wake they reveal brilliant stars. They shine as if they had been polished to a gleam by the rain and the dark wolf finds himself musing out loud once again. My Mother spoke with the dead, but I've always wondered if the stars speak to us as well. He keeps his gaze trained upward and once again wonders at his own musings; where was any of this coming from? They have no voices, though, at least none that I can hear.