Things had changed significantly for the crimson male. He had convinced himself at last that Eden and the child she had stolen were dead. And now it was just him and the three now-yearlings. Time had flown far faster than he would have liked, and he was determined more now than ever to gauge how his children had grown so far. Had they gotten lucky and avoided the demons that plagued his blood? Or did they turn out as unlucky as him? He wasn't even sure he'd be able to tell so soon...or if at all. After all, his own hadn't emerged until he was closer to two or three years old, and then that's when everything changed for him. If they were cursed too, he needed to get ahead of it. To either help them get control and embrace it, or at the very least to do what he could to destroy it if he had to. But he wasn't sure he could even go that far...to destroy those demons would mean destroying a part of himself. And he had already lost so much in his life. But would it really be his call? He supposed he'd find out sooner or later...

He sought out Aresenn, wanting to spend more time with him and assess him at the same time. He needed to do more with them. Teach them. Bond better. Protect them as much as he could...but also...he wanted to discuss a few things. He had met someone that aligned more with what he desired than the Pirates, but he wasn't sure what to do. He supposed he'd figure that out later. For now, his focus was on them and them alone.


"Speech"

The crocodile fight had left him particularly battered, having taken a significant beating as the reptile had thrashed against him as he and Sephiran had stolen its life. But in the end, it was dead and he was not- just surprisingly knotted muscles and bruising that felt like it went nearly to the bone. That on top of the swim to and from the main Island in the nearby archipelago and back, the young Praetor was exhausted. Even now in the few days after the encounter- it felt as if had gotten a lot worse and was only now starting to get better.

He wasn’t one to lay out on the beach, but the warmth that was captured in the obsidian sand was actually fairly soothing to his otherwise invisible injuries. So, when he finally was able to gather the motivation to haul himself out of his sleeping quarters that morning, he found himself working toward the tide. Allowing himself to relax, not giving a damn who came out and saw him. At least until his father appeared …

He heard the approach before any of his other senses registered he was no longer alone. The wind that came off the waves was fickle, and pulled any possible scent cues out over the water. Through a narrowed eye, he searched for the movement out of his peripheral. When he saw his father’s massive crimson build heading his way from a bit further down the beach, he was suddenly a little more eager to care. Aresenn sat up to face his sire, though he was quickly reminded he wasn’t capable of fast movements of his own. Based on the screaming protests in his legs and sides, he eased himself to a standing position as he awaited Ignis to come into a conversational distance. When he did, Aresenn called out a casual greeting. “What’s going on?” Not really sure what else to say.