Guess I’m taking the fall

The first steps across the rocky train here were hard. Not physically - he had kept up with his training and was more than capable of making the journey into the mountains. No, the challenge was entirely mental and emotional. For the longest time he had believed that he would never return here, but with his aunt insisting on making the journey back before it was too late for her to do so, he felt pulled to join them on the journey. Something continued to pull him back to Boreas with a draw that was strong enough to pull on his soul.

Everything was silent around him, the only sound to be heard was the rustling of the evergreen branches in the wind. His paws carried him to a small jutting of rock that made the perfect vantage point to look out over the open expanse of mountains and his dual colored eyes observed the view with a tightness in his jaw and shoulders that he didn’t know how to shake. It felt like both years ago and yesterday when he had last stood in this spot... so much younger and so unaware of the world.

Some might say you still are, a faceless voice whispered to him, making his ear twitch toward where it seemed to come from though he knew he was the only one to hear it. What do you know of the world, hm? Ran away with your mother just to hide and come back now when nothing more can be done to fix what fell apart? The voice taunted him till his teeth were gritted together and his scruff began to prickle. What does doing that teach you of the world? Do you think that foolishly facing a bear makes you an adult ready to face the world?

He rolled his scared shoulder as it ached with the memory of that encounter. His mother had certainly chewed him out for that one... Not that he had needed her to. He knew it had been a foolish, childish endeavor from the beginning. Some faint part of himself that still clung to the idea that he could only grow strong like his father by following his foot steps. He knew better now, but he still had the scars to prove that he didn’t learn that lesson soon enough. Lets all hope you learn your next lessons faster than that one. Your mother won’t be around to patch you up now. Then who will be there to kiss it and make it better?

A snarl curled at his lips, but the sound of someone behind him grabbed his attention and snapped him out of his own mind. His hackles fell flat and his expression relaxed as he turned around, already settled into a neutral facade before his ruby and sapphire gaze landed on the individual in question. His gaze widened, shock and speechlessness gripping him. Time had passed and they had both grown and aged since he had last seen the blue eyed male, but there was no mistaking him. ”Dominus?”