Hikaru was brooding after that crazy day he’d shared with Mortis. His usual bright smile didn’t show on his pale features and his steely gaze seemed like it was locked on something far far away. He wandered out of the Armada’s borders and made his way into Ashen to be on his own. There were a lot of deep thoughts that wanted to be dredged up. Hikaru needed to focus so he could forget them. Imagine they wouldn’t exist. Will them to disappear so he could continue on with the life that he’d found here. Hika looked forward to returning to the den he shared with Mortis every night, he liked the feeling of safety and comfort he provided when they slept so close.

He could ignore the deeper meaning and how much he really cared about Mortis to keep from losing him now. He hated to think about the future he’d have without him someday, but then again he was a prince. There were a million and one things different here than Nippon but the duties of a kingdom’s heir weren’t so different. Hikaru had no place beside him.

The young koi tried again to stomp the thoughts down and his silver eyes lifted to the horizon as he looked out over the many islands under the Empire’s control. He took in a deep breath and tried his hardest to clear his mind, perhaps a bit of meditation would help him focus. The evening was settling in, what birds hadn’t flown south began to amass in the trees and their voices sang out to the slowly setting sun. Hikaru settled back on his haunches, eyes closing as he steadied his breath and tried to let his mind empty.

Kiyo had slept in until shortly past noon, groggily rising to her paws and trying to get her bearings. She’d recalled the events of the previous night; discovering her apparent daughter-in-law who was pregnant, and her son who was the father, making her a grandmother. She was still trying to wrap her mind around all of it, stewing over a cup of robust black tea prepared by Aoi. She’d combed through her long fur for the first time in several weeks, taking a few hours to work out all the knots and tangles until her pelt was smooth and shiny as ever.

After it was done, Kiyo had decided to go for a nice walk. Aoi stayed behind, but Yui went with her as always, her little shadow. The pair walked through the snow covered forest, the skeletal white trees practically glowing in the pale light of the setting sun. As she walked, she would have almost missed Hikaru if it weren’t for the splotches of orange and black on his back to make him stand out in the snow. She paused, blinking as if to be sure that she was really seeing him before a gentle smile fell onto her lips. The former Iga matriarch adjusted her path, heading directly to him. “Hikaru, is that you, my dear?” she called fondly.

He took in a few deep breaths and managed to clear his mind of any thoughts besides the present. He listened to the birds at his back, he could hear the waves crashing against the mainland in front of him, and he felt the cold air all around him. He quieted his internal self and mellowed with each exhale. He was finally beginning to feel centered when the unexpected sound of paw steps distracted him. Not long after his native tongue tickled his kohl lined ears from a voice he’d thought he’d never hear again.

There were few good memories he held onto from his life with the Iga and if he thought about it hard enough he would realize the majority of them involved the ghost of the clan. Hikaru turned, jolted from his meditation but his expression was soft. It held none of the turmoil he’d felt before he sat down. ”My Lady” Hike bowed slightly, showing his utmost respect. Old titles didn’t matter here in Boreas but she had earned his respect and then some. ”It’s so good to see you.” He usually defaulted to the common tongue these days, but it felt good to slip into the one he was born into.

Kiyo might not have called out to him so suddenly if she’d realized that he’d been meditating, but as it was she could see she had startled him by the jump in his body. A pang of guilt flooded her chest. Luckily it didn’t seem like he was angry with her, though she didn’t think she could remember any time she’d ever seen the boy angry. He’d always been good-natured when getting his cuts and bruises treated by her, the very many that there were, and she suspected he truly didn’t have an angry bone in his pale body.

He greeted her with a dip of his head and she offered a soft smile and a nod in return. Old habits did die hard she supposed, and while she was no longer the matriarch anywhere and didn’t feel she deserved such respect, she would allow it anyhow. The pale woman continued forward to press her nose affectionately to his cheek before stepping back, her ghostly gaze skimming over his body to check for signs of maltreatment. She was pleased to find none. “It’s good to see you too, Hikaru! I was so worried when I had learned you’d disappeared as well, but I’m glad to see you’re alive and well,” she replied. After all the conversations they’d had together and the time spent, he felt very much like another son to her, one that she wanted to protect just as much as her own flesh-and-blood. It really had been a shock to find him gone as well, but fate seemed to pull them together once more. “I don’t scent Ashen on you, I assume you’ve joined the neighboring pack that Hanzo has mentioned we’re allied with?” she questioned. Though the two shared borders and their scents were similar, there were differences that couldn’t be ignored.

"Talking" "Talking in italics means she's speaking Japanese"