well someday soon when the spring brings the sun
i'll sleep, i'll finally
feel better when the winter's gone

The wait isn’t long. She’s a tad bit thankful that it isn’t, that she isn’t left alone with her thoughts and her conscious (Hobgoblin) so that she can rethink this decision and slide off into the sea, probably leaving poor Seoul behind in the process so that for however long she chooses, she can hide in her self-pity and pain. How the little dragon would take the situation is a gamble: Sikeax imagines that she’ll either be heartbroken and panicked, crying out for her and Hobgoblin as if they had left her just as her true mother had, or simply accept the circumstances and attempt to live her life out on her own without them.
The first idea seems more reasonable as her grip tightens on her, crouching down lower and pulling her wings in until they surround her, whimpering. There’s a touch of fear lingering on her lips when she cries out, letting out soft chirps that makes Hobgoblin uneasy.
If her companions can figure things out before she does, then they’re not telling.
It’s the screams, emphasis on the plural form of their actions, that makes her know that something isn’t right.
Hobgoblin reacts in what is natural, bursting into a different set of skin a few times over, breaking into blurry masses that Sikeax can’t make out regardless of how hard she tries, before coming out on the other side with his lips wrinkled up into snarling formations, his hate of this entire day finding an outlet.
It only makes him even more overjoyed that it’s Vadir upsetting Seoul so much, who is busy squealing and cowering in fear, coiled up as close to Sikeax as she can with her wings tucked in as tight as they’ll go, leaving nothing but a small head with scared blues out so that she can survey. Her previous scream has left road rash in her throat, and any other kind of vocalization she attempts comes out sore and weak.
For Sikeax, it’s the first time in what feels like forever that she never wanted Volterra to come to her, watching with her body stiffening and eyes harsh as he wastes no time in making his way over, Vadir on his heels. She even nearly turns tail and runs.
Bittersweet happiness nearly kills her when he gives her such an excited greeting, yelling her name out for anyone to hear, letting them know she’s come back to look upon her failures, that wasting away in the ruins of her once-home is how she likes to live these days. “Please don’t.” barely whispers its way off of her lips.
Please don’t bring the beast over.
But Hobgoblin already has their backs, stepping in before her and promptly standing as tall as his petite structure will allow him to, snarling as vividly as one can manage when there are barely any facial muscles left over. For whatever you’d like to call the noise that comes out of his mouth with some sort of ear-splitting agony, something akin to a screech but a howl in the same manner, it works miracles for finding its purpose.
Or at least it does for Sikeax, who jolts her head back just enough for Seoul to partially lose her grip and cry, clutching on with whatever strength resides in her small hands.
It ends up playing out in a way that none of them come to expect, Sikeax standing with the most bravery that she can muster up in an attempt to protect her youngest child, standing stiff with her entire body pulled into its tallest point, hard eyes filled with the words “fucking try me” as Vadir barrels her way towards them. If there was ever a true chance for her to incite her revenge upon the queen for her previous treatment of Hobgoblin and her attempt at attacking her, then now would have been the best chance.
Vérzés, against all odds, is the one who saves them.
Her eyes had already been clutched shut, Hobgoblin waiting for the right time to make a move on her, and like it’d never had happened, the dragon is gone.
There’s an audible gasp from her brother, something she’d never expect from him. Hearing it makes her eyes lunge open, searching out anything that resembled the queen before Seoul whines out an alert that the fury has moved upwards, into the sky. Only a few seconds are spared to look at it, feeling heavy guilt as the battle between the two escalades, because if either of them were to get hurt, and worse, die from their wounds, the blame would easily rest on her shoulders.
It comes to worsen as she looks on to Volterra, who’s face clearly states the brutality of his dragons’ engagement. Any leftovers of her attempt at being brave are quick to be replaced by a display of shame and genuine worry, Seoul now deciding to pull her head out a bit further from her makeshift shield to cry out an apology in his direction. All of this feels as if it’s already her fault, even though she’s done nothing to bring it.
“I’m sorry” crumbles out of her lips, ears ducked down as her eyes fill up with a look of sorrow. Hobgoblin scuffs, despite the overwhelming feeling of worry set in the direction of Vérzés.
She can’t spend much time etching out apologies though. Hobgoblin lets out a quick squeal of delight, winning an explosion of terror and surprise as his younger sister leaps in her skin, pulling herself completely out know to see exactly what all the commotion is about. Her eyes search him out and proceed to follow him, Sikeax quickly doing the same with a gradual turn of the head, ever careful of Seoul’s grip, watching as his body leaps into his last form and goes about weaving in between the legs of the filly with a purr tucked firmly into his throat.
The decline into something more calm, despite the fact that Seoul cannot stop herself from stealing glances into the direction of her larger, older species members, enough that a smile tugs at the corners of Sikeax’s lips and works fast to burn away any remaining worries. It feels wonderful to know that there’s people here who still love her, that are happy to see that she’s going to try to come back home.
Valdís’ presence is immediately met with love and affection as soon as she’s within Sikeax’s reach, having already been smothered by Hobgoblin’s feelings towards her, and as her muzzle swoops down to shower her, multiple notes are taken on how even if she doesn’t say, a thorough bath was in order and that the child had grown, steadily working her way towards womanhood. The thought makes her feel funny, though. All of her children are growing up on her, and here she is, left to wonder how much time is really left with them.
A statement comes out that makes her see the true seriousness of this before she can truly enjoy it. She liked to believe that her mind had already been made, that she’d take up residence in the Throat with Volterra and any of her children that remained there after hoping that they would disregard her previous failures, but had she actually thought it through? One of her children are already here, doting her as much as they can manage and expressing all sorts of love in her direction, and Volterra might as well had been glowing at the sight of her when her name ran over his lips.
It’d kill them if I said I was just visiting. She tells Hobgoblin over the sound of Seoul making out her greetings, obvious delight filling her up as she nearly squeaks in the direction of the Sultan and the filly.
The first response is a strong huff, then followed by “stay? Not stay long, but stay?”
The idea of putting a time limit on their time here seems like a mistake in itself, so all she does in return is give him the mental shake of the head, signaling that their time here would at least try to be permanent.
“I am.” It comes out with the best assurance that she can manage, lifting her eyes up to meet Volterra’s, searching for acceptance. “If Volterra wouldn’t mind having me back.” Playful teasing, if anything.
Guilt comes back around as she eventually breaks off the contact with the girl, lifting her head up as Seoul’s continues to hang down, chittering out vocals in an attempt to gain as much attention as she can. Volterra’s acknowledgement of the dragon has somehow brushed over her head, probably forgotten by accident when her mind had been busy with the arrival of one of her daughters. “Her name’s Seoul.” The child snaps to attention at the sound of her name, making eye contact with the stallion before chittering out her confusion. “We only bonded recently, after Hobgoblin and I found an abandoned nest.” Abandoned is only one way to explain it, but it’s best left in that sense.
Valdís comes to whisk them away from the subject of dragons, though, and more onto where they’ve been hiding away. Pride comes in briefly just so she can feel good about how well she’s escaped this, but not without the linger aftertaste of shame. Her child missed her because she, unlike Seoul’s mother, couldn’t sacrifice herself for them.
So, with a hint of the guilt and shame she feels from her time away, Sikeax can only mutter out a small response. “I was in the North, where I grew up.”

OOC: Hobgoblin goes from leopard seal, wendigo, serval.

"Talk."