(ooc: sorry for the rambly post I have some character storylines to develop, eheh)
Zevulun had known a risk of bringing himself and his sons back to the islands would come with consequence. Ever the social butterfly growing up, he hadn’t confined himself to the Bay as his sister’s had done, but instead traveled at any chance he could to meet other horses from other isles. He’d made so many friends. He’d had so many passionate trysts in the moonlight, and with each one his heart had been filled to the brim with joy.
But he’d still left each and every one of them behind without so much a goodbye. It wasn’t their fault for the dramatics that had gone down from his family and the personal ghost that’d been haunting him with Avalon’s disappearance, and he needed to remember that. Especially if he ever crossed their paths.
Before he’d come to the islands he’d convinced himself he would want to hide away from the old. He’d go to an island his bloodline had never inhabited and see if there was a territory that might take him and his sons in. He would stay away from Tinuvel, would try to keep away from familiar faces that’d be upset he left them…
Then he remembered Freya and her son Baldr.
Zevulun missed them. Not just Freya, not just her son, but Adelaide, Dumah, Merete, Jetta, each and every one of them who’s lives had touched him and who he’d disappeared from without a trace. The children he had with them who never really got the chance to know their father. While he had been the best father he could be to Ramiel and Raziel, he’d been nothing more than an absent face to so many others. Coming back had made him fear them all, or what meeting them might bring him if they still called the islands home. But the longer he stood on these familiar shores, the more he missed them.
The more he missed Tinuvel.
It had been years, but when the storm passed that’d brought them to seek shelter in the Lagoon, Zevulun rested up and announced his plans to his sons the next day. “I’m going to Luthien today, to the Forest.”
Ramiel looked at Raziel, expecting to exchange a look of surprise, but Raziel was frowning and looking off at something else, clearly deep in thought. Ramiel frowned, then glanced at their father. “Why, dad?”
“One of my old friends, I just remembered she lived there with a friend of your Aunt Mari-” He broke off as though her name choked him. Hurt and the subsequent anger churned instantly hot in his gut. Zevulun swallowed and cleared his throat. “Anyways. An old friend of mine used to live there and I want to see if she’s still there. You can stay here if you’d like or you can come with-”
“I want to go with you.” Raziel spoke up rather suddenly, his words almost rushed.
“Alright-” Zevulun frowned at his son. “Why?”
Raziel looked at Ramiel and then at his father and then down at the ground. “There’s someone I need to visit on Luthien, but I need to do it alone.”
Another surprised glance was shared between Ramiel and Zevulun, which further confused Zevulun. Since their birth his twin boys had been inseparable, enough that they might as well have known one another’s thoughts. To know that Raziel had someone to visit that he didn’t want Ramiel around for and to realize that this was news to Ramiel too was… curious.
“Okay.” Zevulun said as Raziel’s eyes remained pointed at the ground. Clearly his son didn’t feel like elaborating. They’d have to talk about it later.
“Ramiel, would you like to go with me to the Forest while Raziel takes care of his business in Luthien?”
“Yeah, sure dad.” Ramiel nodded, glanced with another frown at his pale brother and then looked back at their father. “Sounds fun.” It did sound fun, though Ramiel’s voice didn’t express it at the moment. He wanted to visit every territory and learn all their was to the islands, but finding out Raziel had a secret had unsettled him.
Zevulun stepped forward and gently bumped his muzzle against Ramiel’s cheek. “Come on, boys. The water is going to be cold and it might be snowing on Luthien.” They were Tinuvel bred, none of them worried about the cold. They only smiled at one another and made the trek to where they’d need to swim in order to make it to Luthien.
As they pulled up on the shoreline of the forest island, Zevulun pushed away the understanding that Freya could have been long gone and he wouldn’t be seeing her today. At the same time he wrestled with the thought that she could still be there at the Forest and be enraged at him for disappearing without a goodbye. Either way, he had to accept what he would find. A foolish heart wished for an accepted apology and a warm welcome from a friend he thought long gone, but Zevulun had learned not to put so much hope in getting what his heart wanted.
At the beach Raziel said a quiet goodbye and turned away from his father and brother. Zevulun and Ramiel watched him walk down the shoreline until he turned a bend and was gone. They glanced at each other.
“Do you have any idea what that’s about?” Zevulun asked his son.
“Nope.” Ramiel sighed and looked back after where Raziel had gone. “But I kind of have an idea.” He turned to walk inland and Zevulun followed suit, glancing curiously down at Ramiel.
“And what’s that?”
“Well,” Ramiel looked at Zevulun, then looked away. “Raziel and I kind of didn’t tell you the whole truth. About three years ago we found the islands and stayed here for a couple seasons. We didn’t live on any territories or ever visit Tinuvel, but we met a mare who’d said she was from Luthien and I wonder…”
Zevulun was frowning. He walked blindly forward, not paying much mind to how pretty Luthien looked, even in the dead of winter. “A mare?” He’d always thought of his twins, it’d be Ramiel who’d fall for a mare first. He was the more social, happy and easy-going of the two. “Raziel… hit it off with her?”
“Well, no,” Ramiel frowned. “That’s what I find so confusing. If anything, he was kind of annoyed by her, so I don’t know why he’d want to go see her again… and why he’d want to go without me.”
Zevulun heard the bit of hurt in Ramiel’s voice. He sighed and reached to gently tap Ramiel on the neck as they walked further inland. “Your brother will tell you when he’s ready. Just give him time, Ramiel.”
Ramiel nodded. “I know.” His voice was still a bit glum, though.
“Ah, here we are,” Zevulun said as they turned a path into a territory he hadn’t stepped in in years. There was at least one scent that was familiar and that made Zevulun happy. “So, Persephone still has the Forest after all.” That was promising to think he might find Freya, too. It was with Persephone she’d made her home here, after all. Zevulun smiled at his son. “You’ll enjoy her company, if she’s at liberty to meet with us.” Leads were, after all, quite busy themselves. Zevulun knew that all too well.
“If she isn’t?”
“Then we’ll greet whoever else comes.” Zevulun said with an easy smile. “Persephone is a good soul, I’m sure whoever lives here with her is good, too. I’ll ask them if my friend still lives here.”
The pair paused just a few steps into the territory, not wanting to venture too far until they were certain they weren’t trespassing. Zevulun lifted his pale, pink nose and bellowed a trumpeting whinny out into the air that’d hopefully carry far through the Forest. He wasn’t sure where the herd spent their winter and hoped they weren’t too far away from them.
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