"You belong here."

The voice had come out of nowhere and nearly startled the roan stallion out of his skin. He'd whirled toward the sound, a sarcastic retort on his tongue, but he found no one there, as if the shadows themselves had spoken to him.

"Look, I don't know who you think I am-" He began, flicking his silvered tail against his hocks.

"Son of Rougaru. Last of Vanya." The creature spoke again, and this time Dogma was able to make out the horse-shaped figure deep in the darkness by the gleam of light on his eyes. Dogma's gaze locked onto it, though the creature's rightful guesses had made him uneasy. Silence followed for a moment before the roan spoke again, his hide twitching uneasily. "How do you know that?"

There is a pause before the shadow replies, his voice now tinged with a warmth that did not make sense. "The jungle told me."

Dogma snorted in forced derision, but there was no humor or tease or falseness to the stranger's claim. "And so what if I am?"

This time, there is a smile in the words that are offered, one that almost feels strangely benevolent. "And so what if you are."

---

The fact that the two brothers had found each other was surprising only in that fate had conspired to keep them apart for so long. Dogma, who had been raised largely on Salem, had never heard of Wulfric, and Wulfric, who could never leave Atlantis, had no family to share the news. With Drogon gone and the object of Wulfric's obsession absent, anything he learned of the outside world came from eavesdropping and the jungle herself.

"Do you ever not mope around?" The roan asked archly, his brow raised as he looked upon the disfigured creature that trailed silently in his wake.

"I'm not moping," The answer came stiffly from behind him as his elder brother trailed along in his wake.

"Mmm," Dogma hummed, his tail twitching along his hocks as he walked. "No, you're right. You're a beacon of joy and laughter, the most charming creature I've ever come across."

Irritated silence was his answer, and the younger male allowed a cheeky grin to cross his lips. He still wasn't sure why Wulfric deigned to follow him; they were night and day in most ways. Dogma was confident to the point of cockiness, quick to grin and easy on the eyes, whereas Wulfric was quiet and awkward, all too aware of how shocking the vast amount of scarring over his back was.

Together, they travelled in the dusky twilight in a single file, with the younger leading the way. In truth, neither really knew what to expect. Wulfric was fairly certain Paradise was once more ruled by their kin, but that hardly meant anything considering neither of them was close to their other siblings. Even if Paradise's king was blood, that didn't mean they would be welcomed here.

Still, Dogma had to try. Both of his attempts in the Commons had gone soundly nowhere. Nahawi had claimed him and then promptly turned himself into a trinket, and Daciana had offered something, only to then also lose her home. In truth, her abdication to the Shore was why he was on Atlantis at all, but he was not so fond of her to want to pursue her any further.

As the pair crossed the border and then travelled a bit further to a small clearing, silence stretched between them, ripe with expectation and tension. Whatever came today felt like it would determine their fate moving forward. Lifting his head, Dogma called out for the ruler of this place, and then lapsed back into silence.