He really had no way of knowing. He had felt like he was floating and ever since arriving here he’d known he’d passed away. Yet the green pastures and high walls of the valley home he’d grown up in was a strange sight to see. At first there were no thoughts. His pelt free of the marks that had plagued him in life. His tail straight instead of crooked like it once was. After it had all sunk in, he found himself thinking about those he had lost.

Was his siblings in this strange afterlife? Then his mind settled on one ethereal form he almost felt like he had betrayed. Though in a sense Eraithus had done everything that was asked of him to the best of his ability and while he knew that in his heart doubt was a fickle thing. Recluse… was she doing okay. Despite being dead of course, but so was he now so… there was that.

Recluse Ithuriel-Klein Recluse had expected the next time she'd wake up to be at the call of her wife. But that wasn't it. This was different. She'd spent much of her time trying to find her daughter, unsure if it was even possible to find Kali or if she'd never see her oldest daughter again, maybe ghosts couldn't summon other ghosts. Could she be happy, her daughter lost to her forever? Recluse would never stop trying... But Sparrow had certainly made her happy. So it was totally new for her to come to and realize she felt much more... Real. Like the place she opened her eyes too was somewhere much less distant. Her paws felt like they touched the ground instead of hovering just above. The woman looked around, oblivious for a moment to the other presence. Then as she slowly turned, mouth open slightly as she tried to understand where she'd woken up she spotted him. Recluse paused, going rigid for a moment as she tried to process. It didn't feel like it did when the dreams of the living summoned her... And his dreams hadn't brushed close in a while now. Recluse was coming to terms with being much less missed by the wolves she loved than she might have hoped. "Eraithus?" Her voice was weak, almost croaking. Slowly, so slowly, Recluse started towards him. There was caution there, but there was also hope. Her husband, the man she'd failed to be a wife for before she died... She'd felt forgotten, and yet she'd never stopped caring, had simply come to accept that from her point of view she'd not meant as much to him as he had to her... And yet he was here? "What..?" Recluse wasn't sure what exactly she was asking, just searching him, his face. She wanted to fold herself into him, she wanted to seek the comfort he'd brought her in life but she didn't. Afraid she had been right all along. Afraid he'd not want her. "Speech"

Art by Sirinsong

It felt like a dream. At least it would have been had he not known he’d joined the spirits above. It was nothing like what he thought it would be, but it was at the same time. Here she was standing in the very valley that had made him who he was. Perhaps it appeared differently to her. After all she had been gone for some time, revenge had been sought and many things he couldn’t describe had happened to him. Eraithus had felt shame at first, he felt like he had failed her. He hadn’t been there to protect her.

Yet even with this knowledge and the spiraling emotions within him, he didn’t change. Eraithus ears pricked forward and the first thing he could say without giving it much thought was. "You’re as beautiful as the day I met you."…. The tone surprised him and in a way he was relieved. Collecting himself he embarrassingly fiddled with the fur on his chest. Hoping that he hadn’t crossed a line.

"My time ran out… I passed away with Enki by my side." it was the easiest way for him to come to terms with he’d gotten old and died. That should be an accomplishment in some way or another. Eraithus shook his head giving a soft sigh. "I’m sorry for everything…." he didn’t know what exactly it was he was apologizing for. That no matter what.. he would always love her even if she were to reject him a thousand times over. What a fool he was.

Recluse Ithuriel-Klein Despite it all, despite the worry and the guilt and the shame... When Eraithus complimented her Recluse couldn't help but chuckle, a soft almost girlish noise. How much had death changed her? The way he awkwardly fidgeted... It helped to reassure her. She gently reached a paw out to stop his ruffling his own chest fur. "How blessed it is to grow old and die with your family at your side." Her voice was soft, Recluse was keenly aware that she'd not had either of those privileges, but she didn't begrudge Eraithus it at all. She was glad, it would have broken her heart if he'd died any other way. But as he apologized Recluse shook her head, stepping in closer. "Don't apologize." She'd told her children to live on, to not let what had happened to her control their lives. In the end that's all she wanted for those she loved. "I never gave you the wife you deserved. I regret that." She should have done more, for him, for her kids, for Sparrow... Ah.. Yes, she was going to have to bring that up wouldn't she? Recluse had never been the type to hold herself or her husband to monogamy... But how he might react to a posthumous marriage, well that she couldn't know. Still, for the moment all she wanted was to finally reconnect with her husband. "I never stopped loving you." She'd longed for him as she'd been dying, but no use bringing that up now... It would either only serve to make him feel guilty, or would show he hadn't actually cared. Both of those would have killed her a second time. "Speech"

Art by Sirinsong

The sand under his feet almost felt like he’d melt into them. Here he was with her and in the back of his mind he didn’t think he deserved it. He wanted to spare her the details of his life but at the same time wanted to say how much he’d done. Eraithus had become a heavily depressed individual after he death he knew that. "Blessing a man like me surely didn’t deserve. For what sort of husband couldn’t protect his wife when she needed it most. And in the end Sparrow was the one who avenged you not me." but did it matter now? He’d moved on, to another life it seemed and as she continued to talk he felt like he was young all over again.

Wife he deserved? No recluse had been… everything to him. And maybe that was why he’d fallen apart when she left, why he kept tripping when he grasped at feelings and straws that just weren’t there. "I never stopped either…. Without you I truly think I am broken." he smiled. Pride welled in his chest. He neither cared about Recluse romantic interactions. He believed in loving more than one, connections and feelings were ever changing. So at least he’d share something he thought she would be proud of. "Enki is an alpha now. Leading his own flock. My what a meek boy turned into." oh but Nirah had denounced him and ran off. He certainly hoped he was doing well.