twilight of the thunder god

The walk was long, and Erik should have used to it sort out exactly what he was going to say upon arriving in the Hallows. Everything sounded too... too dramatic? Not dramatic enough? Desperate? Asking for help is far outside his comfort zone, and they'd already done so much for him. How could he ask for more? It seemed the mountain was only making Víðarr worse by the day, the once-king deteriorating far more rapidly in the warmth of the summer. He'd gotten harsher with his children, colder to everyone around, and woke up in a cold sweat more often than not. Always with her name on his lips, always with something terrible grasping at his brain.

As Erik draws to the Hallows borders, he's ragged. The walk was long, and his father didn't seem to sleep. He'd rebuked Björn so badly during the trip, that the boy had scattered off into the woods. Erik hadn't heard the fight in its entirety, but words had been exchanged. Nasty, horrible words. Things that were better off unsaid, out in the open now. Perhaps the boy, too, was a reminder of Tenshi that he needed to push away. Push down.

It's late afternoon by the time he arrives. Víðarr's sleeplessness had caught up to him, grabbed him by the skull and left him huddled in a small rocky outcrop in the Fjord. Unwilling to waste more time, even more unwilling to arrive in the middle of the night, Erik had left him there to sleep it off. The dogs would stand guard, he wasn't in any danger. He'd be better off pleading their case alone. Fuck, pleading is against his nature, but... well, you know what he means.

Erik's call shatters the stillness of the winter afternoon. As close to Auster as winter ever came, at least. A call not just for Ember, but for Artorias too. The request he'd make on behalf of his father was for the lord of cinders, but the one for himself? It occurs to him that Ember may be upset that he'd been gone for so long, even if the time had largely been spent fighting Víðarr's demons. She should have the right to refuse him, as well.

"Erik"