There was a time when Cera would have exploded with anger and sorrow at seeing his father leave or return from battle. In fact learning of Tio's desire to take over the Throat, and of Midas preparing for battle, Cera had done just that. That one outburst had matured him farther on the subject, knowing that Midas would obey Kri no matter the consequences. It was his father's nature, and Cera knew when he was older that he too would fight for his home if he had to, and hoped to lead a life as a decent warrior even as he strived towards becoming the crafter of the Throat. Somewhere between their fight and the moment where he stood beneath his armored, exhausted father, Cera had come to accept that he would always worry over whether the painted stallion would return home. There was no use trying to hide any of these emotions, the thoughts that tumbled sadly through his brain. Even if he tried, Midas would still see right through him. They were as transparent as glass to each other, and Cera frankly wouldn't have it any other way. Communication was key, and Cera enjoyed always knowing how Midas was feeling in the present time.

Soft, greeting brush and they are immediately reacquainted. Cera sighed softly, big emerald eyes glowing with happiness that returned after disappearing from the image of his father's stained and silvered bodice. It was hard for Cera not to be happy, of course. Ilaria, on the other hand, was more than content when she was noticed and greeted. She always had to make a statement, of course, and hated to be ignored, a spin-off of Cera's inability to be quiet. The red panda hated being blown off as a simple companion, and had an attitude to go with it if you annoyed her by doing so. Midas almost always passed that little test of hers, but she was fond of the stallion anyways and likely would forgive him anyways. Squeaking happily she flickered her bushy tail in joy at his response, and Cera rolled his eyes with a grin. Even in their private moment, they nudged each other back to awareness and away from their bubble of love. Both listened as attentively to Midas as the other, and Cera's thin shoulders drooped with relief when his fears were quelled, knowing Midas would not lie to him about his injuries. Obediently the lanky colt put his legs in motion, the idea of a bath soothing even to him. Though the wind was cooling in the air, muscles were still worked no matter what and a light sweat had fallen along his hips and neck.

Ilaria caught on to the image that flashed through Cera's mind, the Oasis with its sparkling waters. Hissing softly she moved back up to his head from where she'd wriggled her way back down to his shoulders. Ilaria wasn't a big fan of water, and preferred small puddles as opposed to large bodies that made her hiss like a startled cat. Making an odd growling sound of discontent, Ilaria's tail flickered harshly against the creamy ears of her bonded. Cera whined softly in return and shook his head slightly to remind her that he was aware of her hatred of the Oasis. Even after he proved to her time and again that he would never drop her from his head into the water, no matter how deep he went, Ilaria still resisted. The cherub wished to comfort her, but Midas' words jerked him harshly back to the conversation. Emeralds narrowed, anger seeping into normally bright orbs. "They didn't even show up? They just left their family, the people that rely on them, to a battle that you say they could never have handled?!" Indignation and rage filled every normally soft tone in his voice. Cera perhaps, being raised in a family with such strong bonds like the Throat, had fiercely strong ideas about loyalty and not abandoning your family. Even himself being abandoned by his mother could have added to that. The thought of Midas, or Kri, or Azzuen- Cera sent up a silent prayer to his father's mentor- ever leaving the Throat to an invasion made his skin itch, made him want to roar like a lion hidden inside a lamb. "They should never have been a leader!" he hissed fiercely, wings bristling and feathers becoming ruffled like an angry kitten. By then his pale hooves had found the edge of the water, and Ilaria's concern kept her firmly rooted and surprisingly silent. Without pause Cera strode into the slowly cooling liquid, ears so far back they risked flattening against his skull. Tail whipped fiercely at the ideas that flooded his brain, and he tried to quell the anger. Grandfather Earth and the wise old turtle had believed in him, told him that he was a good soul for not succumbing to hatred. Cera likely didn't have a bad bone in his body, but the irritation and need to yell at the unnamed leader made him rather touchy in that moment. Giving Midas room, Cera cooled his head and body simultaneously as he sank deep into the water. Sighing softly, he let mottled cream and white wings float weightlessly in the water beside him. Ilaria made a few noises of displeasure but said nothing, resorting to grooming and patting his ears awkwardly until they relaxed and the tight lines in his face faded away to relaxation. Anger did not suit him. Silence took the air then, and Cera let it. It was never awkward with Midas.

Such anger over the subject was surprising to the frail cherub, but he couldn't help but imagine himself and his loved ones being abandoned by Kri or Sumati. It made his chest ache, both with anger at this unnamed leader, and with compassion and worry for those who had been driven out. Had they been driven out? Suddenly feeling sick at the thought, Cera turned his emeralds over to the dark face of his father. Hardly registering the words that sadly graced his ears, the patched colt spoke slowly and tremulously through the sudden lump in his throat. "W-Where did all the herd members go?" Surely there were foals, families! Mothers, fathers, mates? The idea that someone could take over and eject all the loyal lovers of the land made him want to cry. Where would the newly outcasted souls go? The Wilds were no place for horses, for dark things lingered and the Gods could not offer much protection away from the land of their influence. In his mind Cera remembered the dark night he'd been bleating so pitifully for someone, anyone, to find him. He'd been blessed beneath the moon that night, and with one fateful meeting his life had been turned around in the most beautiful way when Midas had sheltered him and taken him in. Would other lost foals end up the same way? Wandering through darkness, crying out for someone they would never find? Mourning the loss of a home that was all they had ever known? Surely his thoughts were written in the plainest, most conspicuous language on his visage, but he was desperately hopeful that Midas had not fight alongside Ktulu and her sister, as he had told Cera, and let them suddenly orphan so many from their home. Part of him hoped that Midas had not, and if he had, Cera also prayed that he would lie. Spare him the images that he could not shake, of frail little ones and despairing families, of confusion and panic and bitterness.

Cera decided that if he ever aided an invasion, he would try his hardest to convince his superiors not to eject willing soldiers from a home their hearts had tied to. Swallowing this down like an anxiety pill, he allowed Ilaria back into the blockade he'd formed in his memories. Like a river running over the rough edge of a stubborn rock, she soothed him and warped him back to a shape he was happy with. Again the tension seeped away, burning the poison out of him with her undying love. Cera imagined the hateful, horrible emotions seeping out from every pore to stain the water instead of his soul. Grandfather Earth would not approve of such emotions, and Cera had decided he would walk a road of light and well-meaning, even if he had to be shown the brutality of war sometime in his life. Ilaria let him muse, but any time his thoughts dipped too dark for her she would huff and bite at his ear, only to fondly caress his head with clumsy paws. She nearly suffocated him with her love, and yet she kept him in line better than any mother, challenged him better than any sibling. Everything he could ever want, ever need, he could see within her loving liquid chocolate eyes.

When body shifted next to him, waves rippled gently outwards and alerted Cera to his father's finish in bathing. Smile rose to his face before he could even think of twitching the needed muscles, crown turning to face Midas in return. Laughing when Ilaria caught the translated image-version of the stallion's words and hissed in reply, cementing the statement. "No, she doesn't like big bodies of water. She's afraid she'll drop and drown, but she trusts me not to let her fall." At that, Ilaria seemed almost flattered and cooed lovingly at her bonded, stroking one tan cheek with her bushy tail. Cera giggled, regarding her adoringly. The trust between the two was surprisingly strong despite how recently they'd been bonded. Grandfather Earth had peered deep into his heart, and given Cera the only part that was missing. Ilaria had never been on his mind back then. A companion, yes, but of what breed he did not know. So imagine his surprise when her small form had flopped weakly to the sand at his hooves around a season ago, begging for nourishment. He'd never loved anyone as strongly as he loved her, except perhaps Midas and Hototo. Realizing he'd gotten caught up in her love once more, he had to yank himself back from the bubble they could easily get caught up in together. Midas' words were caught just in time, another giggle issuing from the youth's throat. Fina was perhaps his best friend, though he wasn't sure she felt the same, and knew she would never bathe if she could help it. Soft sound escaped his lips at the gentle touch to a place he could not reach himself, a muscle easily stretched and made sore through flight lessons. Cera smiled sweetly and turned to brush his own lips over Midas' left cheek, tugging gently upon his mane. "Of course not, dad! She can't fly if her wings are wet, just like us! And she's a fire bird, daddy," he chided, smiling and eyes glowing like small green embers. Teases flow easily from his lips, and yet he is sincere in his defense of Fina. Cera is nearly physically unable to lie or craft the notes of sarcasm in his words, and likely never will master such things. He is honest and open, and wants to stay that way. So when Midas asks of his day, he starts slowly moving pale hooves through the muck and out of the cooling water as night fell far too fast upon the desert, words already falling with total honesty from his throat. Ilaria grumbled and growled softly at the wetness that clung to his shoulders, but slid back down to her normal seat nonetheless. Always more active at night, her large eyes flickered from her bonded, to Midas, to Fina, and back. "Illy and I went down to the beach and took a nap, and then we went and found Onni! After that, Illy went hunting and I helped, and then we sketched some designs I was thinking about. After that I went swimming while she slept, and then we went flying!" Softly chirping as if he really was a bird, voice excited and bright with vigor and light that was finally, at long last, returning. No darkness, even the one d'Artagnan had pulled over him, could keep him down for very long.

Though it was doubtful that the honest stallion would ever lie to Cera, it was a well-known fact in his subconscious that should he ever choose to wield that power, Cera would believe him regardless. So when his smooth tenor crooned assurances, the cherub let his own slim shoulders relax. No others would be kicked out of their homes, then. That was a relief. Ilaria didn't care as much for this conversation as the next, so her attention only shifted to Midas when their words came to involve her. There was no reason for Cera to speak, staring down at his reflection. Still, he was figuring out where he wanted to go in life. When he sketched with Ilaria, his beloved sharing in his passion, there was nothing more he wanted than to beg Coris to teach him the finer points of construction. Yet, when he heard of stories like this, thoughts just started crumpling up helplessly in his brain and he was confused by his own desire to follow in his father's footsteps. Blinking down at the slightly warped mirror image of his own emerald eyes, Cera inwardly sighed. Was it always this difficult to choose between callings?

Soothing chuckle rolled off the lake's surface and Cera smiled brightly at the dark face he knew better than himself. Ilaria, too, peered at him with her liquid umber eyes. Had her displeasure over the idea of falling into the water echoed differently in Midas' eyes? The panda was rather fond of him, and did not want to make him feel as if she disliked him or his words. Cera rolled his eyes at her internally and she slapped his neck with her tail, causing him to snort out a laugh. Jasper eyes turned to Fina with a smile, wanting her to join in on the fun, when she opened her beak and did something that made them go wide. She sang, a soft ebb and flow of melodies that echoed in his heart and reminded him of things long before the days of magic, of pure wilderness and exotic lands that he'd never seen but felt as if he could touch through her voice alone.

All throughout the song she weaved, Cera's and Ilaria's eyes remained only on her. Though the small creature upon his crown had at first instinctively feared the predatory bird, they both loved her dearly, and she sang so beautifully Cera could not help but feel warmth and pride bloom in his heart. He knew not why she sang, but when she finished he fondly murmured her name. "Fina...that was so pretty." Who the last part was directed to was open to interpretation, most likely Fina and Midas both. Smiling at the beautiful crimson creature, he reluctantly turned his eyes from her, reveling in the joy she displayed that was rather hard to find in her.

Soft hum was all that was needed in reply to the fact that his day had been rather full of excitement. Slowly he migrated out of the water, muscles delightfully cooled after a long day of play and flight. Once he was fully free of the comfortable lake, his beloved curled up happily on his back, Cera started to slowly move his wings in an effort to dry the delicate feathers. Mention of Coris immediately had his ears flickering back to the other, excitement lacing his every feature. "No, I haven't yet...do you think he would like them?" Ilaria poked her head up at the mention of it, just as thrilled by the idea as her bonded. Hope glowed in his voice, legs moving restlessly at the thought. He missed the times when Midas would watch him sketch, or take him out on small vacations and adventures outside of the Throat. Though it had given Cera a sense of independence and the ability to care for himself, it often left him lonely despite his bonded's presence. Even so he never complained, merely enjoying his father's time when it was given to him.