He had meant to speak with Epiphron after meeting her back on the cliffs. But somehow it slipped his mind. But maybe waiting this long was a good thing. He had gone to Arcanum, joined, got all junked up in the process. He wouldn't be as brutal this time around than what he was expected when he was up top the cliffs. This was kind of an odd place to stop. No place special or anything. He needed to be back in Cat's lands before sunset or, he didn't know. Maybe she wouldn't do anything. Oh well, He would be sure to grow some sort of trust with her, hoping that she could do the same. The birds were quiet this morning, his howl calling for his mother making them grow softer. He wondered if she would worry of his tiny injuries, the biggest being the slight pop of his cracked bridge, nothing too bad to worry restlessly over. He would await his mother's approach, this time feeling relaxed rather than burdened. Walk"Talk"

Many of Epiphron's worries had been assuaged by the reunion of herself and her children. A strange sense of calm settled over her, burrowing its way deep into her soul, calming the slight rage and unrest that had settled there for so long now. A peace had washed over her, softening her as the ocean might wear down a stone. Her paws would carry her quietly through the thicket, the sound of her movement little more than a gentle rustling of foliage underfoot.


The scent of her son was familiar, and entirely unmistakable. Despite the warmth that resonated from her other children, Caeto had seemed cold and even a bit angry at his mother's presence. What ailed him, she was not sure -- but it would not deter her from wanting to see him again, to feel her son's warmth and to keep his company as long as possible.


His call came suddenly, a sound unburdened and free, so different from his demeanor at their last meeting. Though her interest had already been picqued, she felt a slight warmth spreading through her chest at his call. The sound reminded her so much of him as a child and a painful nostalgia washed over her. With little hesitation she could redirect her movements, heading toward him. The distance was short, and her heart lifted as she saw her son.


How did he want her to react? Already she had apologized for her disappearance, for failing her children as a mother. She had explained that brashness and the thirsty for revenge had led her to make mistakes that she regretted -- but he hadn't seemed affected by any of it. A wary eye would be cast upon her son as she approached, moving as though to embrace him but hesitating as she anticipated his reaction. "Caeto," she started, voice quivering slightly, warmth audible in her tones.

His mother wasn't far behind his call. She would come to him, hesitating though, and Caeto couldn't help but feel bad for how he acted and making her feel this way. Quickly, but not too suddenly, he would move toward her with an embrace. He wished he could have done this the last time he saw her, what was wrong with him? "Mom?" He would question, a little shiver in his voice. His heart hurt for her, mixed feelings curving together. He would pull away, standing very close to her. His puncture wounds and injuries being very visible. Pupil's dragged to the ground."I..." Would could he say? He made her hesitate, he made her feel unwelcomed by his presence. A glance back up, but down without two seconds of a hold. "I'm sorry." He seemed to be hurting himself more lately. He left Titania because he felt he would drag her down with his emotions. Epiphron had vanished, just like Maverick. He would wait for her acceptance, forgiveness even. Because he hadn't really forgiven himself yet. Next stop: finding Leo and asking of the same. Walk"Talk"

If it had been any of her other children -- even Arian, when she had reeked of her cousin that had betrayed the Adravendi name -- she could've embraced them without a hint of hesitation. But Caeto was her weakness, the one child that she could not figure out, whose reactions she couldn't anticipate or even guess at. Had time really changed him so drastically? What had happened that had made him so hateful?


He'd been silent and cold at their last reunion, so it surprised her when a bit of emotion crept onto his features and he moved to greet her. A sigh of relief slid from parted jaws as he embraced her, his own voice quaking with some uncertainty. The scars on his face and snout were obvious, and though the wounds were not quite fresh they had not healed fully. Tenderly she returned the embrace, pressing gently into him before they pulled away and she examined his face silently. "There's no need to be sorry," she told him honestly, another sigh escaping her tight throat. "I should be the one who is sorry, for leaving you and your siblings on your own. I shouldn't have even considered it."


Perhaps if she and Maverick hadn't left, they wouldn't have lost contact with their oldest children; maybe Maverick wouldn't have cheated on her and gotten a near stranger pregnant. She'd never been one terribly prone to regret, but she couldn't help but feel as though she'd made the wrong mistake by letting her family disperse so long ago. A near whimper fell from her lips as she let her nose nudge the side of Caeto's snout. "What happened to you, Caeto?"

"We're old enough to be on our own." He was mentioning with a loving tone, "You're not to blame." They all made the decision to leave their parents. Caeto probably would have left without their say. But if anything he regretted it. With Maverick missing, his mother was all on her own. Sure Caeto found her and stayed with her most of the time before she disappeared, but he didn't spend every night or day by his mother. She was easily lost just like his father. She would turn to his nose and the wounds on them that would hopefully heal. He couldn't remember if she knew why he decided to go off, if she knew of Zaria and Arcanum. Isolde hadn't recalled her name, had he told anyone? "I had a run in with Cataleya," He would roll his eyes with a childish grin on his maw, "I'm fine." He would then think of the Arcanum meeting, when a young boy ran to the front with excitement, and he only wondered. His voice was gentle and didn't hesitate. He wasn't expecting what the truth was, that was if his mother even admitted. Maybe he'd never know. "I saw a black boy with spots the other day, is there an aunt or someone who had children I don't know about?" Walk"Talk"

The seemingly unbreakable facade of his had slipped away as soon as he saw her again, the boy's seriousness faltering as emotion flowed from the very core of his being. Their were few beings who could elicit such warmth and such feeling from Epiphron, but her children were certainly among those few, and even now she felt her lips quivering as he embraced her. "A mother does not cease to be a mother as soon as her children are of age," she told him sternly, shaking her head. It mattered not whether they had been old enough to leave, or if they hadn't been. Her job was still to look out for them, for the rest of her days -- just as Cairo had looked out for her. A sharp pain radiated through her chest at the thought of her deceased father. She had still been young at his passing, far too young. "I will be your mother for life, whether you like it or not." And a poor what she had been lately, though she was slowly remedying that by making sure all of her children were well and safe wherever life might take them.


And her children, too, were facing a similar predicament; though Maverick was likely not dead, simply gone. Was it his absence that had affected Caeto so deeply? She listened acutely as he spoke of a woman named Cataleya, though he brushed off the injuries with a grin, and her own worries would fade at his nonchalance about his wounds.



His next was a curious one. Apparently he had seen someone that bore similar markings to him and his siblings, though with black fur. "I don't know..." she began, mulling over the mental image for a long moment. "To be honest, it sounds like one of your father's children," Epiphron said finally, huffing softly. "I didn't want to tell any of you, but your father had children with another woman. It was an accident, or so he says, but it happened nonetheless." Where that woman was, she had no idea; nor did she care about ever meeting those children, but they were Caeto's half-siblings whether she liked it or not. "If you know where he is now, you might want to ask him. He's partially family, after all." A shrug was given as she leaned forward to nudge Caeto's shoulder lightly.


"But what of you, my son?" the inquiry came gently, curiosity shining in her sapphire stare. "You smell of a pack. Where have you made your home?" So much of the affairs of Alacritia and its packs had been avoided for so long, and slowly she was beginning to wonder what all had changed during her absence.

Caeto would always keep Epiphron close as his mother, no matter what kind of cold hearted or welcoming man he was. His mother really always did prove to be there for him and his siblings. And as she felt with her father, he would hurt the day she needed to pass as well. She would start off an answer with a little hesitation as she thought. And as she admitted Maverick having the affair, Caeto would only tilt his head and squint a little. Inside though, he was fuming. But she seemed so relaxed about it, actually telling him to make friends with the boy; he was family. And he wouldn't destroy her heart anymore than it could have been. He would only giving a grin, not sure what to say or even feel sorry. Maybe it was a mask? Caeto would have been heartbroken and pissed at that, how was his mother just like, whatever? But she would turn the subject, and Caeto wouldn't object. He'd rather have this meeting to go much better than the last. But it didn't seem to be turning better either way, because he was curious. "Arcanum. Back where I started." Though he still had an intent expression, his grin was not so visible anymore. "Have I not told you of Zaria?" Walk"Talk"

Perhaps she should've told her children about Maverick's betrayal, about the children he had fathered without her; a slight frown grew on her lips as she finished speaking. It seemed like something their father ought to have told them himself, but despite her wish for his return -- even if just for closure -- he hadn't shown his face. He was more of a coward than she could've ever imagined.

It seemed like Caeto's demeanor shifted then; the joy he had expressed quite plainly upon seeing her seemed to harden as she spoke. Her own expression would falter slightly. Pain was evident in her gaze as she studied him. "Son..." she began, a sigh slipping from her throat. "I have mourned for too long, and I have been angry at him for far longer. I do not expect you to forgive your father, for I haven't, but dwelling on it will not help you." Perhaps meeting his half-siblings would help Caeto in some way, though she knew it was not something she'd be particularly interested in herself.


She was grateful when he spoke -- saying he'd been in Arcanum. A curiosity painted itself on her features, compassion obvious in her stare as she studied her son. "You have not told me about her," she would start carefully, wondering what this girl meant to her son. "Who is she, Caeto?"

She spoke her feeling to him, and he couldn't do anything but take his eyes off her and return them in apology. An apology that his father couldn't make, because Caeto knew he was gone. If  he really did show her how he felt, he knew that his mother most likely would show him her disappointment. He was vastly different from his siblings, but was it from all he's went through? All he went through? That was bull. Sure he lost his father, the rest of his family at that, but that was his choice, right? He may have lost someone he held dear, but he left her too. He left Zaria to die. He wasn't going through anything, he was putting others into hell. If only he could really see it. Unfortunately, she didn't know about Zaria. Had he really just up and left without telling anyone? Was he that far gone? His eyes would wander, pushing him to walk past his mother and stop only a couple feet after her tail, but no matter if she turned to be with him or not, he would speak. "Zaria... was someone that mattered to me." He didn't realize until this moment that maybe it wasn't really love. Everything he had done was just an effort to make up to her. She  probably hated his guts for leaving her without a word, cursing his name from above or below or where she was resting. He knew Cat was. "I guess it wasn't actually love." A quiet voice, sung to the floor hoping that his mother really couldn't hear him. But he picked it back up to only speak a short story of the two, the parts that only made sense to him now that he failed to tell anyone else. "I left you." A lip of disappointment to that statement. "I left you to go live in Arcanum with her." A silence, but a heaviness in his breath to show he wasn't finished. "And now she's dead." His eyes forcefully closed, obviously pained. But was it really sorrow? He wasn't a crying type, but he didn't feel like tearing up. He didn't know what he needed anymore. (OOC: 100th post!!!) Walk "Talk" Think

There was so much for her to consider. All of her children had reacted so differently; Caeto's initial reaction had so emptyand only now did he express some kind of sadness to her. He had always been serious, quite different from the rest of his siblings, but she would not fault him for it. Eyes watched him carefully as he moved away from her, beginning to speak, and she hoped he might unravel the mystery of what had changed him so deeply.

Zaria was her name. He admitted he didn't think it had been love -- but obviously she was someone that had mattered to him. A gentle sigh of empathy left her lips. She had known loss, though perhaps in a way different to Caeto. Both of her parents had passed and she had watch her own brother's death. It had been downright brutal to watch and she was grateful that her children hadn't been there to witness it.

"I'm sorry,"  was all she could think to say, a long pause following her words. Slowly she would move to embrace him, to truly hold him as she might've done when he was a child. He was still her boy, though he was half a foot taller and certainly stronger; it was with little hesitation that she slid her muzzle around the back of his neck from where she stood at his side.   "Loss will never be easy, Caeto. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you..." Sure, he had left of his own accord, but she was his mother and had no excuse for not finding him. "I'm your mother and I should've been there for you." Her grip would tighten slightly on him. Perhaps he might pull away -- she wouldn't fight it if he did, but she wanted to try nonetheless. His pain was evident and she could tell he was having difficulty copying with it, and it was all a mother do to try to soothe it, even if it was to no avail. Another sigh would leave her parted lips as she held him.

Her apology would almost make him feel guilty, though he wasn't sure why. His eyes flicked back and forth awkwardly as the silence followed, not sure what there was to say. But soon his mother came back in to give him another warm embrace, her voice and wisdom soothing to him. He felt nothing like the child he used to be, he had longed to be beside his mother again. Just as she pulled at his scruff, he would nuzzle at her shoulder before speaking. "You're here now." He wished that he could follow her back to where ever she was staying, that they could be like family again. But he owed his loyalty to Cataleya, to Zaria. There wasn't a way out of it now. Of course he could come see Epiphron when he wanted, but would that be enough?  He longed for the days back in Seracia when he was with all his siblings and both his parents. Their family was broken now. He hadn't his older brothers or sister since... he couldn't even remember. There would probably never be a day where they could all be together again. Not even with Maverick. Walk "Talk" Think