Jigano had flinched from the scratching sounds coming from outside, curling tighter around Isuma and urging her to silence as the animals shifted restlessly. They stayed that way for hours, tense and afraid, though the little gryphlet eventually dozed off in spite of the strain, exhaustion closing yellow eyes and sending her into a doze of uneasy dreams. The fox had stayed up far longer, falling asleep only when Talys laid down in a whuff of boredom and laziness. Jigano pressed against the dark fur of his large companion and drifted up to dark and dreamless sleep for a little while…
The luxere had begun to shift restlessly, that was what had woken him. He had nudged the dreaming Isuma more firmly into the corner where she would be safe from accidental hooves, then risen to his feet to slip out into the center of the barn, dodging bleating goats and ponies’ hooves. He’d almost made it to a hole in the wood to try and peer out into the still night when the sound of splintering wood in the distance caught him by surprise and he tensed. Not the farmhouse, no, but beyond it… something in town?
Then he heard the farmhouse door open, and fear beat brilliant fire in his heart. Rory, no! he cried silently, twisting for a moment as he prepared to throw himself into his human shape—
But the footsteps were coming towards the barn, and in another moment the doors were thrown open and Rory and Amalia were there, hustling in and hurrying to the horses. He didn’t whine, just pressed close to Rory’s leg for a moment before following Amalia to Talys’s stall. Stay, he bid Isuma, his heart breaking at leaving her, but not knowing whether she would be safer with him, or with the luxere. She peeped sleepy protest, but he was already leaping up onto Talys’s hindquarters, pressing close behindAmalia and following his friends out into the night, and whatever emergency needed tending between them.
Through the dark, through the night, through the fear - to the perch he had left offerings at with Seiji, and the shattered remains illuminated by Amalia's antlers.
The luxere had begun to shift restlessly, that was what had woken him. He had nudged the dreaming Isuma more firmly into the corner where she would be safe from accidental hooves, then risen to his feet to slip out into the center of the barn, dodging bleating goats and ponies’ hooves. He’d almost made it to a hole in the wood to try and peer out into the still night when the sound of splintering wood in the distance caught him by surprise and he tensed. Not the farmhouse, no, but beyond it… something in town?
Then he heard the farmhouse door open, and fear beat brilliant fire in his heart. Rory, no! he cried silently, twisting for a moment as he prepared to throw himself into his human shape—
But the footsteps were coming towards the barn, and in another moment the doors were thrown open and Rory and Amalia were there, hustling in and hurrying to the horses. He didn’t whine, just pressed close to Rory’s leg for a moment before following Amalia to Talys’s stall. Stay, he bid Isuma, his heart breaking at leaving her, but not knowing whether she would be safer with him, or with the luxere. She peeped sleepy protest, but he was already leaping up onto Talys’s hindquarters, pressing close behind
Through the dark, through the night, through the fear - to the perch he had left offerings at with Seiji, and the shattered remains illuminated by Amalia's antlers.
