Let go of the past

The other wolf placed a paw over Mercurys. He could feel the warmth and support in that gesture. And, dammit, he could feel the tears slipping past his guard. He didn’t want to cry, he had no patience for it. Not right now. He raised the paw Art wasn’t touching and rubbed his eyes with the back of it. He let out a shuddered breath, Art’s kindness undoing him more then he would have expected.

“Then we go with speed” He said, taking the support Artorias offered him. He didn’t believe that Artorias had an ulterior motive. He wasn’t a wolf to hold a debt over his head, but even if he was in that moment Merc would have paid it. Paid almost anything for Wren to be safe and with him again. The thought chilled the gentle wolf as he got back to his paws. He wished he could find the right words to tell Artorias how much this gesture meant to him, but he knew that if he tried he’d fall apart. He couldn’t let that happen.

Instead, he started the journey, leading them away from the Bifrost and back to the North from which he came.

-- time skip --

Art’s timeline had been almost bang on, and it was growing late into the evening the day after the two had begun. Tired and weary, and nearing the end of his stores after the long three weeks he had spent searching, he was glad to slow his pace. Coming upon the scene that Wren had left was no comfort, however. He almost missed it in the growing shadows. There really was nothing left to show a fight had been here. Wind, rain, time, and critters had covered the trail. “It was here, this was where I found her blood.”


"Speech"