Mesec had barely remembered to pause on his way out of the Veins to find Megaera again, but he quickly had found the Sultana to catch her up on (most) of what his mother had told him. This all important quest, the reason why they had made this trip and the thing he needed was dwarfed by the screaming voice in his mind that kept reminding him of one thing. Well, two things: his children. The idea of a family was all-consuming in his mind. A family that was his - not just one he had been thrust into, not one he had been adopted into, but one where he actually belonged because he had helped to create it.

Or, at least, he hoped he would belong there with them. He wondered if Ki’irha had already given birth or if he would make it in time to be there for her. He didn’t know how long mares were pregnant for (couldn’t even remember the last time he spent time around one that he knew was pregnant). Mesec knew next to nothing about the star-mare - a fact that, embarrassingly enough, his mother was well aware of - but he couldn’t imagine a birth, particularly to twins, being easy.

The quest was important, he knew that - knew that he should finish it before going to find Ki’irha again, but he couldn’t shake the need to go north. He just needed to see her - maybe even them - once and then he would stay away until his quest was completed and he had control, until he was safe.

Lucius, always Mesec’s obnoxiously vocal conscience, felt conflicted over the issue as well and kept up a constant debate through their bond - enjoying his growing grasp on the spoken word. He pointed out that exercising restraint on seeing the children could be the first step in completing the quest but also felt Mesec’s excitement course through him and the zephyr wanted to see Ki’irha and, if they were born, the children as well.

Their path northward became meandering as the pair alternated between wanting to go there right now and wanting to complete the quest first. Mesec had been starving himself for so long throughout the winter that he needed to build up the strength to make another trek across Helovia - the one from the north down to find Megaera in the Throat had been torturous.

Which was how he found himself here, in the Deep Forest, his ears flickering towards the sound of lowered voices followed by angry, snarled words not far off in the forest - just catching the movement of two dark bodies through the trees. The end to his self-isolation felt so close (just one quest away) it would be okay to just quickly investigate, right? Lucius found a perch in a nearby tree so he could keep watch while Mesec moved forward cautiously, aware that he might not be welcome at all but his worry driving him forward all the same.

“Is everything alright?” He didn’t recognize either of them - though the skull-faced mare’s markings reminded him of Volterra - but his concern was genuine as he stepped through the trees, silver eyes flickering between the two as he paused at least two lengths away from the pair. He couldn’t know what a ridiculous question that was, but the anger in the last voice to speak had alerted him - surely there was no harm in checking.