The eye of the storm

Hikaru never knew Naiche very well, but he had been devoted to his craft, his son, and his pack and the koi respected him and his memory for that. He had no right to spill any tears for the heroic wolf, but he wished his family well and offered his assistance in any way he could. Not that there was much you could do for a wound left like that. All he could really do was hold more tightly to Mortis.

Since the trip he had been much more protective, Hika felt confident in his ability but the strange occurrences really cut through his mental defenses. He had found his weakness, but also Mort’s confidence. The winged heir had the young koi under his wing as the pair of them appeared at the edge of the meeting. Hika stayed close to Mort, but smiled especially at Ophelia as they got comfortable.

"Speech"