Desolate thoughts
The strip was a barren land, chosen not only for its proximity to the estuary but for its desolate biome. It would work to harden the resolve of even some of their more gifted hunters, it would act as a trial. Still even Helios could not say it was to his tastes. Wind tugged endlessly at him, pulling and tugging at his coat. Dirt was whipped up by its howling and the man had to narrow his eyes against it. Cracks in the ground menaced his slow progress, some of them certainly were wide enough that if he mis-stepped he'd no doubt disappear into the dark, others hed just get stuck in, neither option seemed particularly appealing.
The man wasn't wholly sure about his children running around here and yet he supposed that it would be a life lesson if they did happen to get stuck, that was of course assuming that they didn't simply get swallowed up by the cracks in the first place.
Time under the burning sun had gone unnoticed to Hercules, too busy with his little project to keep track. For all he knew, the boy could have been out here for any hour when in reality it was about four. Multiple holes dotted the landscape as evidence to the amount of time. Each one varying from shallow to deep, no two's depth matching, showing what he was out here looking for. Water. Well, more like experimenting. The young Olympus male wanted to know how much earth he would have to dig up before the ground grew damp, and once it was moist, then how much longer till he broke into a small pocket of substance that every creature needed? With the findings gathered so far, he wasn't able to discover any water from the simple digs which made him start to think that perhaps it wouldn't be possible. This land, it sucked up every last drop that was thrown at it, soaking deep into the earth where only plants with the longest and most determined roots could reach.
He was on his way to begin a new hole when the wind carried the scent of Helios, causing the boy to step away from his spot. Head turned to face the direction the aroma came from, fiery orange eyes looking up to his russet hued father. He remained in a calm and relaxed demeanor, dipping his head to the man and taking a small step towards him. "You need me pa?" He questioned, head tilting slightly to the right in curiosity. He was sure that the man wasn't just here to see what his son was up to, having more important pack matters to tend to. Of course Hercules didn't use this to say his father didn't care about him, it's just that he understood that even if he was with children, small chit chats could be saved for a less busy hour. speech others |
Russet gaze landed upon the form of his son, the only one he still had. A slight ache filled up his chest and he approached the boy, tripping suddenly upon one of the dips in the ground. For a split second his heart dropped and he feared he had been careless enough to fall into one of the endless gaps in the earth and that he would be swallowed up forever, never to see any of his children again. Then he caught himself, his paws hitting solid ground. Helios stopped suddenly, staring down quizzically at the ground, his paw sitting in a little bowl of earth. One of Hercules’ many holes having caused him to trip.
He lifted his gaze again as his son spoke and he smiled at the boy. “Need? No, but I am happy to see you.” He left the hole behind approaching to gently nose his son upon his head. “One of the upsides of these new lands are minimal borders to patrol.” He gestured off to the side, the thin line of the ocean just visible on the horizon. “What have you gotten up to Hercules?” He asked, briefly wondering if the holes were his son’s doing.
He raised a brow and chuckled, though light, when his father tripped over one of the shallower holes his son had dug. Hercules wasn't mean, especially to his father directly, so he would keep the laugh locked up for now, not wanting to damage his ego for something so silly. So he just stood there, tail slowly swinging and head held high, the corners of his lips pulling it into a small smile as he looked to his father with bright, flame colored eyes. Even if it was autumn in other parts of Alacritia, with the sun always high in the sky, burning furiously, it left this region hot even when others said it was cool.
Helios spoke, he didn't need Hercules, was just happy to see him. “Me too.” He voiced, pressing into his father's touch on the head, using his own nose to prod the man's shoulder. Ears perked up when he continued, mentioned the usefulness of their new lands, having minimal borders to patrol and asking what the boy was getting into out here. First he would glance in the direction his father had gestured towards, looking to the thin line of blue on the horizon before looking back to his father. “I am experimenting!” He said proudly, chin lifting and tail rising, nearly touching his back.
With that the boy turned away and padded over to one of his deeper holes, still quite proud, and turned back around so that he could gesture the man over. “I am seeing how deep I can go till the soil becomes damp, how long it says like that under the sun and how much deeper I have to go till I hit any water.” He explained, head lowered so he could look into the hole. This was probably the deepest, if Hercules stepped in you would only be able to see his head poking out of the flat surface. Lifting his head once more he grinned, doing a little bob with his head before asking, ”what do you think?” "speech. thought. you." |
A brow quirked upwards as Hercules declared he had been, experimenting? Helios watched as the russet boy trotted away towards another of the dips in the earth and then motioned for him to come see. Curiosity was evident upon the man’s face as he approached, peering at the hole. This one was quite a bit deeper than the one he had tripped on only moments before and confirmed Helios’ suspicion that they were his son’s handiwork.
He would listen intently at the boy spoke of his work a smile pulling upon the corners of his mouth. Part of him was amused at seeing the child so clearly proud of his work and another was the pride Helios felt upon understanding what it was he son was attempting to achieve. His son would grin up at him and Helios would turn russet gaze upon Hercules. “I think you’re doing good work.” He spoke, the pride clearly evident in his voice. Truth be told he wasn’t sure if his son’s experimentation would ever amount to anything useful but he’d never allow himself to quash his children’s curiosity.