twilight of the thunder god

There's a grim feeling that spreads over him, waiting for someone to heed his call. Erik had royally screwed up, when it came to how he'd left things. Ember had done so much for him, and he'd gone off without a word again. Preventing the old man from doing something drastic had taken all of his strength, with the grim notion that Víðarr could have gone down swinging on his own children. It had been a bad stint, perhaps the worst yet. Words he didn't know how to say, and the explanation of his father's difficulties lately... it was difficult to explain. The aggression he'd seen was channeled at Björn alone, until Erik had attempted to intervene. Deeply troubling, but at least he wasn't a danger to society on a whole.

A danger to himself, though, that's a different story. Erik doesn't know how to help, not in any tangible way. Getting him off the mountain, once and for all, may be enough to save him. To save him, to help him in some way. Trying to calm the war inside his head, even if the likelihood was slim, at this rate. There's something deeply horrifying about seeing your father for the first time, not as your father, but as a man. Erik was living that horror day to day.

When Ember appears, it's wildly apparent just how much had changed in the few seasons since he'd last seen her. Heart pounding for a moment, gaze softening as she comes into focus. She'd filled out in all the right places, and she looked... upset didn't begin to cover it. Erik couldn't blame her. Shuffling his paws in the slush, knowing that he's well and truly screwed up. It does little to dampen the way he looks at her-- pleading, but still with the same possessive air. A fire that can't be put out.


"Nearly was," he grimaced, something that would have been a rueful smile in a lighter mood. The rumors hadn't been true, but the blood on the snow certainly painted a picture. There's no blaming anyone for coming to that conclusion. "I'm sorry, Em. My father had some kind of... episode that night, I heard him get up and went after him. He was delirious, talking about aptrganga and..." Erik trailed off, tipping his head only slightly. Scars from the brawl that night still living on his skin, though they'd healed.

"Tenshi's death hit him harder than he let on." The words are spoken quietly, confidentially. Weight on his chest, in the pit of his stomach, words he's been too proud to actually say to anyone finally breaking through. "I had to stop him from throwing himself off the mountain, and chased him all through the north to get him back... he's more stable now, but things aren't good." Erik's tone is that of a man who's exhausted to the bone. Tired in a way that tired doesn't begin to cover, sadness and exhaustion written over his rough-hewn features.

"I'm sorry, I tried to send word, but it took everything to get him back enough to travel." Erik speaks quietly, taking some time to find the words in the common tongue. They're difficult, weighty in his mouth. Everything is heavy around him. He doesn't think before he speaks, the words breaking the surface before he can stop them. "I love you, Ember. I wouldn't have left you if it hadn't been life or death."

"Erik"