Cera
_{Try to find if it was worth what you spent, why you're guilty for the way you're feeling now}

Seeing Ranjiri once more had eased the sting of loneliness that he carried like a constant weight across his shoulders, these days. It would never be the same as having her there with him, as he had once had her. But he knew that she had to figuratively leave the nest. Stretch her wings. And if love had a part of that...well, Cera had never really felt love in that capacity, only had the old feelings for Sikeax to give him any sort of frame of reference, but he understood nonetheless. She was no longer a child, and he could not expect to continue holding her to that age in his mind. 

What they had spoken of had not left Cera. He doubted it ever would, for he hadn't even dealt with his own personal feelings towards his long-dead father. And seeing Ranjiri suffer was never something that Cera could easily cast away or forget. With a sigh he cast his verdant eyes to the coastline, wishing to see her again already, despite having no real reason to seek her out. He could not constantly depart from his duties, not with their other Forger now gone. And so he worked, toiling away on the church in  his spare time. But if he closed his eyes, feeling the sea breeze in his mane and the salt in his nares, well...nobody was around to see him taking a break from his duties. 

"CERA!"

It rang so fiercely that Cera startled, armor instinctively beginning to unfold from his leg brace before he settled. It was a female voice, and something nagged at his memory, not quite clicking into place as he tried to remember who it was. But they had called him by name...surely he could not leave them waiting. 

The Prince galloped forth into the surf, wings sending water spraying as he ascended into the sky. He flew low across the water, eyes keen and scouting for whoever had beckoned him from across the waves. She was immediately distinguishable, a dark spot against the pale sands. For a moment he thinks it's Ryuu, for how similar the two appear, but trepidation builds as he realizes all at once that it's Ktulu. The last time he'd seen the mare...well, it had been at Hototo's death. 

White hooves strike into the ocean before her, not wanting to crowd her by landing on the strip of land between she and the water. Head dips in respectful deference, though his eyes linger a bit boldly on her face. 

"Ktulu," he speaks clearly, wings folding at his sides lest they begin to flex nervously. The colt inside him still remembers this mare as Hototo's mother, as the strict and imposing shadow beside his father, and his consciousness cannot shake that impression even as he stands before her as a fully grown stallion. "What brings you to the Throat? Is Ranjiri okay?" And fear darkens in his soul, eyes going a bit wild with the thought. Energy races through his body, prepared to spring forth into the sky and seek out his baby sister immediately if Ktulu even hinted that she was not in perfect mental and physical health. For surely Ktulu was only here for either Ranjiri or his crafting abilities.