Dragon had been traveling between the North and East, the two areas he felt most comfortable in. The North was his family home, and the east was sort of like home. Abaven was nearby, the pack once had a long standing relationship with his family. Or rather, Bass once did with his mother. And now? He had yet to visit for quite some time. The night was quiet but cold, the temperatures dropping further as winter wore on. He sat alone at the edge of a steaming pool, thoughts on what were and what could have been stirring his mind. Of course, he also thought about what could be as well. He had two children. Well...three, but the third had yet to be found. Things with him and Iskra were slowly working out, despite his mistakes. The news of Drake and Wyvern had surely been just as surprising to her as it had been to him the day he found out, but he had no other choice but to take them in. Their mother didn't want them, and was in fact just about ready to kill them. His mother was over the moon that she was a grandmother, and she spent as much time with them as she could. So much had happened in the last year, it was sort of mind boggling for him. All he knew was that he wasn't particularly miserable or anything, but he wasn't content, either. A soft sigh left his lips as he gazed sightlessly at the water. "Dragon"||Kimahri||Shiva

Life was strange, funny, and littered with irony. A prime example might be how Iskra had lately found herself traveling less, sticking more to central Boreas for the better part of the last season while Dragon made trips here and there. She'd happily check in with him, determined not to disappear the way she had before, but the starry woman had no real interest in traveling north for a few reasons not the least of which was that her fur simply wasn't thick enough to hang out there a lot. Too much time spent in warmer climates maybe?

Wandering aimlessly through the barren trees was both beautiful and a little sad. Honestly, Iskra preferred the lovely colors and liveliness of spring. Winter just looked so dreary unless it was actively snowing and you had a nice sledding spot available. Speaking of dreary, Iskra caught a welcome and familiar scent and followed it to a somewhat mopey looking Dragon.

"Cheer up, otherwise I hear your face might stick like that," she cautioned playfully, trotting closer to seat herself beside him.

His mind raced with thoughts. But lucky for him, there was someone there to get him out of his funk. Iskra's voice tore him from that, and he couldn't help but smile. God he missed her. He truly did. He turned towards her, gently touching his nose to her cheek for a moment before pulling back. "Well we wouldn't want that now, would we? I might end up uglier than I am, " He attempted to joke, though deep down he felt all his struggles had taken a toll on him both on the inside and outside. He couldn't see anymore. He had scars and battle wounds across his body. And yet, he still tried to maintain a positive outlook on life despite his many unsure thoughts. Even now with Iskra, he felt insecure like he didn't deserve her and that she deserved better. He even felt stupid thinking about her for so long, trying to look for her, but no matter what he did he couldn't forget about her. He tried a few times, and failed. He had felt angry and sad and hurt, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never stay angry at her. Nobody was perfect, and he knew that. He had made his own mistakes just like anyone else, but no matter what, he always forgave. He just wanted to make up for the things he felt he broke, if he was able to. "Good evening, Iskra. How are you?" Was that too casual? Probably. But he was unsure if he'd be overstepping boundaries if he said anything else. Speak

"Well we wouldn't want that now, would we? I might end up uglier than I am," he joked. Iskra narrowed her eyes, studying his features for a moment as she tried to decide if he had actually sort of meant that. Deciding not to risk the possibility that he did and let it go unchecked, she moved to bump against him and try to give his ear a nip. "Impossible," she declared, "You, ugly? Unfathomable. Couldn't happen." Light as her tone was, the assertion was genuine and heartfelt. No matter how complicated their lives had gotten, she cared for him deeply. Even loved him, much as she didn't want to think she had any right to use that word after how much worry and pain he'd had to endure because of her, it was true.

It still made her chest tighten with that familiar crushing guilt when the awkward silence began to fill the seemingly endless void between them. Sometimes it still felt like they were sitting on opposite sites of a bottomless pit, unable to truly reach across to each other. Maybe that was just Iskra though... Maybe her conscience just didn't want to let her live without paying for her mistakes in full.

Dragon went on to ask how she was and Iskra, ensuring she was lightly touching his side, shrugged and huffed, "I was dreadfully bored before to be quite honest, not a whole lot going on here it seems. Winter might be the worst season. And you? What have you been up to?" Why was it so hard to just feel normal?

He couldn't help but chuckle at her response. Well, at least she thought he wasn't ugly and that was enough. While he couldn't see his own reflection anymore, he didn't know if his scars were that bad or not. Or how mangled one of his ears was, but he supposed it didn't matter. He had seen others worse off, and he was completely used to it all at this point. After all, he couldn't spend the rest of his life brooding and thinking about it, right? Right. And that meant...he shouldn't brood and think about everything he regretted. The things he thought had gone wrong between him and Iskra. His chest tightened when he thought about it though, and despite his feeling like he should make up for lost time, he didn't know how. Instead, he leaned into her for comfort, and just like before, her touch sent electric feels tingling throughout his fur. She commented on how bored she was, and he had to admit...he'd been incredibly bored too since he became a rogue. "I'm afraid I have to agree with you...I don't know how you do it, Iskra. I've never been more bored in my entire life." He let his voice sound more dramatic then usual to try and keep things in a lighter mood. He had always lived in a pack. From Sonticus, to Imperium, to Ivalice, to Talis. His whole life had been spent living in a pack with duties to tend to and things to do. But as a rogue? He felt things were harder, and so very, very boring. At one point, he wanted to resurrect the Talis name...but along the way, he just didn't feel the drive anymore. The thought that others wouldn't want to follow a blind alpha always sat in the back of his mind, and he realized he probably couldn't be the leader he once was. Ah well...there was always joining another pack, right? He wasn't sure... Walk, "Talk" Think "Kimahri" Shiva