Never thought I'd find you here

Alastor could feel Kichi's tension when he went to embrace the lad, the tightening of muscles in response to an unwanted contact. It hurt Alastor's black heart that Kichi had been so corrupted, so tainted by his life with Lurid. Perhaps it was too late to save him; the boy was too far gone, too lost. It was exactly what Alastor had wanted to prevent. Kichi was an adult now, and his mindset was defined by the pain he'd endured. Not that he could be blamed for it, of course, but it did break Al's hardened heart. It meant he had failed him. With a disheartened frown, he let Kichi go to pull away, looking over the smaller wolf with a mix of empathy and pain. He would respect the young brute's independence and choices though—no matter his personal feelings on the matter.

Kichi explained where he'd been in terse, obscure sentences. He'd been traveling with his pet. He'd gotten into a few fights. That was it. It was clear Kichi was shutting him out, shutting him down. Alastor wouldn't press and pry. If Kichi wanted to be left alone, then the dire brute understood. Though he'd held out hope that one day he'd find Lurid and Kichi again, too much time and pain had come to pass, and maybe now their lives were too distant to try and realign. Alastor cocked a rueful smirk, nodding his head to the monochrome wolf. "I'd expect nothing less. And I'm sure you kicked all their asses," he remarked with a low chuckle. There was a greater question looming in his mind though.

"So what will you do now?" What did Kichi have planned for the rest of his life? Did he have any plans or goals? Was he roaming from place to place, living day by day, or did he have a grand scheme he was following? More importantly, would this be the last time he ever saw the boy he'd once hoped to raise like his son? He knew if he wanted, Manea would let Kichi join their band without question... but what would Kichi want?


"Alastor"