Conflicted. Confusion. Betrayal. Anger. He couldn't focus on just one feeling. It'd been a few days since his talk with Mercy and yet he still felt like his emotions were a hurricane. The turmoil was enough to send him over edge and in the end it was confusion and anger that he had settled on. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she'd tried to force claim someone. What gave her the right to do that? He was more than happy Mercy had won. He wasn't opposed to force claiming altogether, but it hadn't been something he'd expected from her. He could handle their father not being around, he could handle her being married to that stupid dimwit, he could even handle their little runts that she'd given birth to with him, but he couldn't handle this. He'd already played around with the idea that he didn't belong here. In the beginning he'd been more than excited by the idea of his mother being a leader, but he'd noted a change in her behavior and he didn't like it. He didn't even recognize his own mother anymore. Everyone felt like a stranger to him and so he'd come to a decision. He wouldn't stay. The only thing he had to get past was his mother now. He had to talk to her to leave. Sure he could disappear without a trace but then they'd come looking for him and drag him back home. No he had to find the courage to face her with an amount of maturity and stoicism that he was pretty sure he didn't have. Still he tried to keep a straight and emotionless face as he padded to the border. He'd pause and sit for a few minutes, trying to get his thoughts in order, before he threw back his head and howled for her. Walk, "Talk" Think

She was tired. Sore. Her muscles still stiff from the fight a couple days prior. She had fled after everything that had happened, her son having torn out her heart for whatever reasons she didn't understand. Bass had found her, bloodied and broken. Vulnerable, torn...defeated. He had helped her so much, more then she ever thought someone could help her. But as she slowly limped her way back to the pines, her demeanor changed again. She felt older then she was. More tired then she'd ever felt before. Her journey back was slow, but perhaps it was on purpose. Who knew what had happened while she was gone. What kinds of rumors were spread around. She was sure that the others had found the scene of the fight, and probably had questions. She didn't feel like talking to anyone about it, and she didn't need to really. She had a justifiable reason for that. As she neared the borders, her head lifted a bit at the sound of Kharnage's howl. She stopped where she was, dull and tired eyes staring ahead. The call was for her specifically, and she wasn't sure if she even wanted to know what it was about. She just wanted to find a secluded place and sleep. But she knew that she couldn't, not now. And she wouldn't ignore her child either. She would continue forward again, Tan acting as a silent guardian the entire way. And when Avalon finally made it to the borders, she would find Kharnage sitting there. The woman approached, keeping her distance from him by several feet. She could feel that something might happen, and the question now, was whether or not she had the strength to handle it. Her shoulder was matted with dried blood and the herbs that Bass had applied there. And the alphess knew she might be questioned about it. She would give the truth about what happened. She wasn't really one to lie, much less to family. Her gaze and posture showed that she was obviously tired. And not just the kind of tired where she felt like she could sleep for a week, no. But the kind of tired that made her shoulders fall, as if the weight of the world was sitting right on top of her. "You called?" Talk like this

Kharnage sat and waited anxiously for his mother to arrive. He'd already checked the territory to see if she was there and he'd already discovered that she wasn't. It irked him, but he could only hope she was close enough to hear him. His nerves were in shambles because of the unknown. How was this discussion going to go? A part of him believed he wouldn't like the outcome, but some part of him was hoping it'd go smoothly. It needed to. She arrived eventually and his eyes would flicker to her battered form. Her bird followed along vigilantly. He's stare at it, keeping a straight face, for a moment before he looked back at his mother. She seemed tired, worn out, and overall quite defeated. Something seemed different about her, more so than usual, but he made no comment on it. It was her fault that she looked all beaten up. She shouldn't have tried to fight Mercy and there was no way in hell he was going to feel bad for her. She'd brought it on her self. He briefly glanced at her shoulder to see the damage Mercy caused, but it seemed like she'd already gotten someone to patch that up. She obviously hadn't seen Vereux, but another male's scent was on her fur. It was a faint scent but he could smell it all the same and his nose wrinkled in digust. He didn't comment on it either, but so far he didn't approve. Did she have another male he didn't know about? "You called?" She was quite formal and he raised an eyebrow at her before he collected his thoughts. "I called you cause I want to leave Ivalice." Walk, "Talk" Think

She sighed quietly after he spoke. So, he wanted to leave too? Maybe Mercy was right. Maybe they would all turn against her, and for what she didn't know. They weren't talking to her, weren't telling her what she could do to help fix it, let alone try. She felt like they were all keeping her in the dark, and it was frustrating beyond anything she could describe. The look in his eyes, she noticed, was similar to Lykos. After all, of all her kids, Kharnage and Lykos looked most similar. She would say nothing for a while, amber gaze looking at the ground between her feet. Would this go the same way like it had with Lykos? No. She hoped not. She didn't know how much more she'd be able to take, and already she felt like her heart would never repair itself after this. Now that another one wanted to leave. She wasn't ready to let them go yet...and while she knew at some point it would be inevitable, why did it have to be now? "Why?" She was desperate for an answer. For the reasons why they all wanted to leave. Who was next? Dragon? Gryphon? They were all feeling like strangers to her. What the hell did she do? "Talk"

His ears didn't miss the sigh and they'd flick nervously. He hadn't expected her to be happy with his decision. Hell, if he were in her position he wouldn't be pleased with the idea of one of his kids leaving him. He was almost two thought and, while he wasn't fully an adult, he felt old enough to be leaving out on his own. He believed he had every right to do as he pleased and leaving felt right. Sure it'd suck being on his own, but that was all he had done lately anyways was be on his own. Other than attending meetings he hadn't really interacted with anyone at all other than a few kids and even those were awkward and only halfway enjoyable. They weren't even his own age and hardly worth spending time with. She wouldn't look at him and instead she stared at her paws. He didn't like that. Despite the fact of how uncomfortable he was with this conversation he refused to look anywhere but her face. He let it go as she instead asked him why. He supposed she deserved the answer to that so he complied. "I wanna go explore the world and be independent. I wanna experience life and I feel like I can't do that here. I feel like I don't fit in. I look at the pack and all I see are the faces of strangers staring back at me. Hell, even my own family feels foreign to me." He'd left out about the part that he knew of Mercy's fight with her. He was doing his best to be civil, but he wasn't sure how to word anything without it being insulting. He was doing his best to make this an okay conversation and that was saying something considering his foul mouth and nasty temper lately. Walk, "Talk" Think

She didn't dare meet his gaze. Not yet. She listened to his reasons for wanting to leave, another sigh passing her lips. He at least, gave a reasonable explanation for wanting to leave. Unlike Lykos, though she supposed just because they looked similar didn't mean they acted alike. Truth be told, she felt the same way too. Maybe he wouldn't believe it if she said it, but she did. It was something she had already acknowledged a while ago, and yet she still had yet to force the changes she wished upon the pack. She felt like it was already too late, and that they wouldn't respect her if she just went full blown alpha and like less of a friend. She bit her lip, brows furrowing as she slowly forced herself to look at him. When had he grown up? She couldn't believe how fast time had flown, and she simply wasn't ready. But she wasn't going to keep him here against his will, not without a good reason. And he had done nothing to betray her or the pack. She hoped that at least, she had done something right for this one. "I've never really been able to lie to any of you..." Amber gaze met his, full of sadness and other emotions she couldn't quite name. "I've been feeling the same for quite some time. And while all I can do is ask myself why, I don't think it would matter at this point." She forced a smile for him. Even despite all that she was feeling. "I just wish I had done a better job of raising you and...being there for you. And because I feel like I failed in doing so, I must apologize." He would accept it, or he wouldn't. But she wouldn't blame him if he chose not to. "I won't keep you here, Kharnage. Just know you're always welcome back..." Whether this place would remain or not, whether they moved or anything, he would always be welcome regardless. There was so much more she wanted to say. So much more she wanted to tell him before he left. She didn't know when she would see him again, but she hoped that he would at least come back to visit once in a while. Or maybe even return when the wanderlust left him. But who knew how long that would take. "Avalon"||"Tanaraq"