Samael

As the irrational anger slowly begins to fade from my system from the ill-timed interruption, I'm left with a strange, unsettling feeling of confusion as my Dear Heart begins to speak and explain the land in which I had traipsed into. Or, at least, the land that the hellish storm had thrust me into. I was never one to be confused, you understand... I was always the one on top of my game, as certain of my situation as I was of the movements of my own body. My eyes, far more gentle than the previous icy chill that had filled them, focus on Hamaliel's sweet mouth and vocals as he explains that while he does not call this place his home, he does live here. Or, in a land called the World's Edge... Whatever that was supposed to mean.

My ears swivel forward, eyes dancing between Hamaliel and the colt and kit combination... Recruit? Whatever for? Was this land some sort of army metropolis?

The crimson-splashed youngling speaks up then as my lover grows silent, and I stare at the youth who introduces himself as Sacre, and his fox kit as Inari. The orange tufted creature yips in response, and my confusion merely grows. What an odd pair they make... Then again, others might consider Hamaliel and myself as odd as well, for the pair we make. Still, I listen with rapt attention as Sacre tells me of his home, a land called the Dragon's Throat. I knew nothing of this 'Africa' or this 'Sohalia', but I understood the word domain. They must rule there, then... In a Throat of a Dragon? Ugh, mortals. Such confusing creatures.

"This is a strange place." I muse aloud, glancing between the two before I go on. The feathers of my wings flutter and twitch with impatience; they're ready to be on the move again. "I am Samael, young Sacre, and... Inari." It's odd, to be talking to a fox. A fox. No matter. "Does this mean that you want me to go home with you?" Now that was a question I normally reserved for my lover, for he was the only one I wanted to sleep beside... Not in that sense, mind you. Get your head out of the clouds.

My head drops downward and I sigh a deep breath through my nostrils, uncertain. Hamaliel claimed to call the World's Edge his home. Sacre spoke of this Dragon's Throat. My curiosity bubbled at potentially seeing both places, and for a moment I'm struck with a terrifying sense of deja-vu as my icy-blue oculars focus on the beautiful gold and green of Hamaliel's gaze. The last time that I asked him to accompany me, he denied me... Would this be the same? Would he abandon me after I had finally found him again? Was it wrong of me to ask him to follow in my steps, to remain by my side when he had finally found a place to call home?

"... Come with me?" The words are meant for him, for only him, and they come out far weaker than I intend. My words are coated with a begging, yearning tone, choked with emotion that had quickly risen from the deepest part of my gut, rolling into a boulder that lodged itself within my throat. "To the Throat of the Dragon?" I did not know if I would call that place my 'home'... But we would see.

In less than a second I go from steadfast, curious, yet confused to utterly terrified, and my breath hitches, my eyes widen, and I brace my detached, beaten heart for his denial. Please, please, please, please.

the Fallen