The sound of the lad’s approach made Sacre jump. It was one of those odd moments of experiencing both relief and embarrassment. He knew his dark thoughts couldn’t be heard, but at the same time he felt slightly unnerved by thinking of them during the presence of another. With a snort he composed himself and offered the approaching colt a warm, bright smile. He recognized both; Ilaria more so, wasn’t she the panda companion of the Golden Prince? Sacre hadn’t had much chance to get to know Cera much, to Sacre the master craftsman was like one of those respected folk in the distance that he one day wished to be like. Known for good things more than bad. At least, that was the perception the blood stained child had projected onto the gilded lad and his blazon companion. The question was, why was the companion of the Forger following the young lad that now approached.

He was only perhaps a year younger, they shared the same similar black and red traits, but this one had added in yellow. There had been that one-day, quite a while ago now, that Sacre had run into the colt. On of his first days in the Throat he had found Ranjiri along with Cera and this young half-pint. Maybe there was something more between those three and Sacre was just missing a piece in the jigsaw. Either way, he greeted the colt with urbane gestures and hoped his open armed friendliness would ease the boy’s nervousness that spilt through his voice.

Ryuu. Ryuuuuuu. Ryoooo he amused himself with his playful thoughts; there was no chance of him forgetting such a catchy name. “The one and only. The best. The-“ he stopped short of finishing his theatrics as Inari dug a claw into his leg with a disgruntled look of exasperation. ”Will you ever grow up?” He projected the distressed thought to his blue eyed friend. Sacre ignored the quip with a short laugh, his attention firmly on the colt in front of him “aye I’m Sacre and my friend is Inari, nice to meet you Ryuu” he offered the boy, brightly.

Thud. He drew his attention away from Ryuu for a moment to search for the source of the new noise. Maegera! His companion in hunting down the murderer. Sacre let the joy of seeing her colour his features “Good to see you, Meg” he responded kindly when she closed in on them, Inari barked his own vulpine version of ‘hello’.

The conversation turned to the duty at hand and Sacre, who had been on patrol duty only twice before, set off towards the entrance with purpose. “Let’s go!” he concurred with Meg, hoping they’d accompany him down into the caves. His cloven hooves hit the new terrain with a muffled, low sounding clop and Inari followed eagerly by his side, white tipped fluffy tail held perfectly vertical as his little black paws marched away. Soon they entered Sanctuary and the duo came to a halt in the middle. “I haven’t been here in some time… It’s so beautiful” he complimented the surroundings with awe in his voice as he observed the lava behind the crystal. “Do either of you come here often? I remember when we lived here for some time and all I wanted to do was get out, but we couldn’t” his laugh was distant, like it was lost in a memory.