Orphiel followed his daughter forward as she led him to where she had last seen her mother. When the pair came upon the place he could see signs of where Parvati had been resting and blood, stained dramatically red on the snow. It stood out and made his stomach go cold the instant he saw it there. Immediately all he could think were awful things, but did his best to quiet the panic that’d flared up. He had been on the losing end of many fights and the winning end of a handful, Orphiel had bled before and his cream-brown coat bore the scars to prove it. He reminded himself of the wounds he’d managed to heal from and of the toughness he knew was in Parvati. She would be okay.
She had to be.
Still, Orphiel glanced from where he found Parvati’s tracks leading from her resting place and toward Devi. She was still young, she didn’t need to see her mother injured and bleeding… particularly if it was worse than Orphiel hoped. “Devi, I think I know where she is… stay close but, would you mind giving us our privacy?” He hoped she wouldn’t argue. It’d be just as good for her to stay still and rest, she’d pushed herself beyond her physical limit just to come all the way to the Lagoon to fetch him and then directly back.
Only once he was sure Devi would let him carry on alone did Orphiel part from her, picking up his hooves into a hurried trot along where Parvati traveled. He dropped his dark nose to the ground and trailed her scent until he pulled up quickly, noticing her propped up against a tree. “Parvati!” Her name trembled as it left his lips with agonized worry. He rushed toward her, completely forgetting the years they’d spent apart and how much he’d sworn he hated her.
He could never - his heart belonged to her first, regardless of what they discovered of their blood later.
“Oh, Parvati,” he said more softly as he drew near, stretching out his muzzle to touch her cheek, “Are you alright? Let me help you, lean on me and tell me where to go- I’ll take you there.”
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