Their going had increased exponentially once she had been lofted on his back. Her muscles had really atrophied more than she had guessed while in captivity; her stamina just wasn't what it used to be. It surprised her that he still wanted her, even after all this. Amidst the disaster of the volcano, Eris had a hard time imagining any sort of return to "normal," but that's what they had to strive towards.

They found themselves deep behind the thundering falls, which were a sight onto themselves. The air here was pure and clear. Take that, fate. Eris had felt like she'd been sidestepping death for months now - did she really deserve a moment to rest? In the darkness of the cave she was at ease. The damp air brought clear smells to her nose and if she took her time it was easy enough to navigate. Delicious sugary structures were all around. Once she had drunk her fill of the clear waters, Eris had tasted them gleefully. "It's sweet! How strange... I wonder how they formed," she pondered, looping back around to sit quietly near Oxide.

"We made it," she finally breathed aloud. They had been safe for a few hours now but it finally felt okay to admit it out loud. "I wonder where the others wound up?" The Ademre were finally reunited and forming some kind of presence in these new lands. Although their inception had been driven in part by her capture, Eris couldn't help but feel grateful that her family was united again underneath the same banner.

He set her down easily, unwilling to leave her side as she was granted her freedom. However rude jumping her right away might have been her scent in the confined space had his mind focused on little else but her. Maybe she was weakened by her captivity, or damaged, or not whole, but none of that mattered because now he had his little shadow back. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her presence until the relief of their accepted trade washed over the rust marked boy.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he took his fill of water. He was invincible, and the smoke and ash had taken its toll on him as well. He had planned to go find them food, but as Eris sat beside him and he allowed himself to relax he knew that wasn’t going to happen. One, he was too tired. They hadn’t stopped for long and he’d been carrying extra weight. Their bellies could wait a night. And second, he was unwilling to wait much longer to finally offer his soul mate an intimate touch.

”Safe, like I promised.” He rumbled while leaning over, he didn’t hold back his eagerness. He nuzzled her cheek affectionately, adding in a suggestive nibble against her jaw. Oxide would lead her if she wasn’t sure what she wanted yet, as made obvious by her distraction of family. The Nightingale youth breathed her in as he leaned more heavily against her tiny frame and shifted his affections down her neck. ”I’m sure Lament has led them to safety.” He told her dismissively, his focus narrowing.

Eris leaned into his now familiar touch, relishing the darkness and silence that enshrouded them. It was if they were entirely cut off from the world, twin flames circling each other and nothing else. Surely this was the Lethani. She would follow this path, wherever it may lead. "Yes, you're right," she replied demurely, nuzzling her head into his chest. Again she was reminded of just how small she was in comparison to Oxide.

A strange warmth was building in her stomach - or somewhere near her stomach. Eris wasn't sure. It was unlike anything she had ever felt. She basked freely in his affections. The contrast from being stuck in the slaver's pit to this overwhelming joy was staggering. Would she be punished for this as well? "I'm worried," she murmured, her eyes closed tightly. "So much joy... I felt like I was captured because we met. I wasn't allowed to have you. It was not the way. But how can it not be the way?" Eris said, a hint of frustration creeping into her voice. "How can this not be the way when I feel so at home next to you? And so this must be it. The only way." As long as they were never separated again, she was resolved to cope with any punishment that could be doled out for this pure happiness.

The sound of the falls soothed away the last of his worries, the last tensions that remained while Eris had been in danger. The air was clear and fresh, and their forms shrouded in a concealing darkness. He was reminded of Eris’s eventual loss of eyesight, and how this was how she would experience the world. Oxide sighed heavily and pushed the thought away for later as he felt her muzzle against the scars that remained from the cat he’d saved her from.

His gentle nibbles and nips wandered to her scruff, the actions more intense as he ran over less sensitive skin. ”I’m worried.” Oxide froze, sure she was about to say something about the eventual puppies that would result, his heart quickened but instead her words were about the balance. How they were and weren’t supposed to be together. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her to pull her even closer.

”What if we were being tested?” He asked quietly, his eagerness unabated. ”You are my only way.” He rumbled, ”Soul bonded.” He offered affectionately as he shifted to kiss her lips softly.

Soul bonded. Eris sighed longingly. She loved the way it sounded when he said it - like it was real. A simple fact. "Of course," she agreed, closing her eyes. His touch felt so good, like it soothed an itch only he knew she had. "If we were being tested, did we pass?" she asked quietly. Their words, however soft, echoed in the cavern behind the falls. Even then they were barely louder than the rushing water. You had to listen carefully to separate voices from the waterfall. It gave their entire exchange an ethereal kind of quality.

Eris circled Oxide, pressing her body to his all the way around. If only she could rub a piece of herself off on him that they would always be together. "Promise you'll never leave again," she asked suddenly. "Was it worth it, anyway? Our time apart?' He was a wandered and a loner at heart, but Eris could tell that his walkabout hadn't exactly gone as planned. Otherwise, why would he have returned at all?

Eris sighed into his touch, clearly pleased with his actions. The corners of hips lips pulled back in a smirk as she questioned him. ”We wouldn’t be together if we didn't.” Oxide told her confidently. She pulled from his grasp, but didn’t release contact as she circled around his body. He rumbled quietly in his chest, the vocals blissful as she spoke. Begging a promise from him. ”You’ll never leave my sight again.” He asserted, he wasn’t going to give her a chance to put herself in such a situation again.

”No. If I hadn't left, you never would have been captured.” He couldn’t help but take some blame for not being there to protect her. Oxide shifted so he might reach out and grab hold of her, aiming to pull her to his chest and bury his features into the thick fur of her scruff. He’d aim another few well placed kisses, sprinkled with suggestive nips. He wouldn’t dare invoke Eulogy’s memory here with his shadow.

He took his turn to sigh into her fur, overwhelmed by her scent, her beauty, and the lyrical quality of her voice. She was all that he wanted. ”I don’t think you understand how you make me feel.” He confessed into her fur with low tones while diving into the intoxication of her.

Of course it wasn't worth it. Her heart twisted and she thought briefly of Sota who had insisted that he go in her place. Where was he now? Did he survive the blast from the volcano? He was smart. He'd be fine. She banished him from her thoughts, focusing more intently on the present situation: Oxide and his strong, stalwart presence. You'll never leave my sight again. "Okay," she replied simply. From now on they would be together always. "That is our Lethani," Eris added, "it is our path."

"How do I make you feel?" she asked in husky tones. In her head, Eris conjured the image of Oxide as he'd described himself: copper tones, pristine white, bright red eyes. His careful ministrations were like a balm on her broken soul. If he touched her like this long enough, Eris was sure that she could knit herself back together.

She allowed him to take hold of her again, and wouldn’t argue his point of never leaving her. He grinned into her fur and felt his skin shiver as she spoke of their Lethani. The separation had only made his realize how much he wanted her beside him. How much better he was with her. How perfectly she fit in his arms. ”Hardly able to restrain myself.” He chuckled quietly in answer to her question. ”Like I’m invincible, or the only man in the world.” He continued boldy, but still barely a whisper as the subtle sound of the falls entwined with his deep voice. ”Like a better version of myself.”

His last words were spoken with a bit of hesitation, but they held the most truth. He loved Eris, and everything she made him into. ”What about you?” He enquired back almost shyly as he found himself kissing her jawline. ”How do I make you feel, Eris?” Her name on his lips sent shivers up his spine. He couldn’t hold her tight enough or get close enough to satisfy the tension built within his rust stained body.

He made her feel like fire - or like the volcano eruption itself. Eris shuddered at his kisses and leaned more intently into his body. "You make me feel like my world is wider with you in it," she whispered. If she was always by his side, she would never have to worry about what she could or could not see. With Oxide part of the Ademre, it seemed like she was going to finally be able to live the life she'd always wanted but never dreamed that she deserved.

"I need... something, but I can't figure it out," she said hoarsely. Eris pressed circled Oxide again, delighting in the pleasurable frisson that the movement elicited. She paused nervously in front of his face, twitching her tail and spreading her irresistible hormones throughout the cave. "Do you know what it is?"

He’d never felt his heart soar like it did when she whispered her answer to the question. He knew the anxiety she felt about losing the ability to explore the world like they enjoyed together. If Oxide was with her the two of them would be able to see everything Boreas and Auster had to offer. He grinned widely as she circled around his heated form once again. She really was irresistible and his resolve was quickly crumbling. He had to have Eris now.

”You don’t know, my little shadow?” He returned, reaching forward to nibble excitedly at her ear as she stood in front of him innocently. He breathed her in and without hesitation closed the distance between them. ”Let me show you.” He offered with a whisper as he shifted his much larger form to surround her. She fit perfectly beneath him, with many sweet kisses and a gentle touch Oxide took his sweet shadow.

-fade-

The Ademre didn't much discuss the carnal pleasures of the body - or, at least, no one had decided to enlighten Eris. But why not? This feeling was so exquisite! She let out a small noise of surprise as he enveloped her, then closed her eyes and tumbled headfirst into their warm embrace.

-fade-

She awoke to the pleasant sound of the water rushing outside. They were tangled together such that Eris couldn't tell where her limbs ended and his began. The little shadow stretched luxuriously and yawned, burying her face back in the russet fur of his neck. Eris closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, committing the smell to memory. Shielded from the outside world, it was nearly impossible to tell whether it was light or dark outside. Inside the cave they were protected from all of nature's forces: volcanic eruptions, ash, and time itself.

The night had been filled with bliss, and Oxide wasn’t sure when he drifted into sleep. He might have slept for longer had Eris not started to stir as the soothing sound of the falls surrounded them. He breathed in deeply as she stretched, and sighed contentedly as she snuggled back into his embrace. The Nightingale boy was sure that his heart was going to burst with the adoration he felt for her. After the night together, he was even more sure of the bond his soul shared with hers. They were one.

He nibbled sleepily at her delicate ears, careful to kiss the scars from Valkyrie’s claws. His goal would be that she never had to worry about being harmed again. He would protect her from every obstacle she encountered. She was his to keep safe. Ox would have to train harder, he’d have to work with Lament and endure the chains of binding he’d take up for the Ademre. Anything for his shadow.

”Good morning, beautiful.” He rumbled softly, holding her more tightly to his chest as he spoke. She still smelled divine, and having her so close only brought back the eager feelings of the night before.

Her? Beautiful? Eris laughed sleepily, nuzzling deeper into Oxide's embrace. "Is it morning? I can't tell," she murmured sleepily. What light that did filter through the rushing waters was dim enough that it could have been moonlight. The world of the cave was still drenched in shadow. Eris couldn't make out a thing except the bulk of Oxide in front of her. She'd had a wonderful dream - the Ademre were thriving in this land they'd discovered across the channel and there were little puppies bopping about (who had ripened?) and Lament had seemed absolutely alive. Ballad had become one with herself once more and all of their shattered memories were repaired.

If only she could lift the dream from her head and into reality. "Lament worked so hard to bring us all together," she whispered into the darkness. "I'm worried about the rest of the Ademre and if they crossed the channel safely." Although it would be torture to leave this cave, Eris knew that he was her soul's twin flame. They would never truly be parted.

She seemed to wake up slowly and sleepily, and wondered aloud if it were day or night. Oxide chuckled into her midnight toned fur. ”It doesn’t matter,” in a perfect world they might continue on wondering for the next season what time of day it was outside, but there was too much to distract them. They had to make sure the rest of the Ademre were alright. ”I know you are.” He whispered back, sympathetic to the feeling of helplessness when the one he cared about wasn’t beside him. ”I don’t want to leave, but after we get up we should go and find them.”

Though he hated suggesting it he wanted her to be comforted in knowing they were alright. ”There will be time to sneak away again, I’m sure.” If not he wasn’t afraid of making time to sneak her away again. She was just as alluring as she’d been the night before, if not more so now that he had started to get to know her tiny body.

Eris laughed at his eagerness. They had only just begun to deepen their relationship, but her body craved more. She was unsure what these new carnal desires meant, but the little healer had been conditioned to trust her body. If you couldn't do that, you didn't really have anything at all. Pressing her small dark form closer to his, Eris took one last deep inhale of his musky scent. Subtle changes seemed to have occurred in the night. "My soul belongs to you," she said simply, closing her eyes and reveling in their private bliss. "So it follows that my body does too."

"But we should be going," Eris said, only a bit reluctant. In her mind they had the rest of eternity to revolve around each other - recent events made touching base with her family the more important task for now. Carefully she disentangled herself from him and stretched herself out. Eris blinked a few times then turned towards the dim suggestion of light that came from the cave's entrance. "Come on, I can't find my way without you!"