freed of your mane and its dreaded weight, you decide to go hunting for the shield-sister that has been missing for a while now. she missed her check-in - that means you go looking. it's not like you didn't warn her what would happen, so she can't get mad if you scruff her like a naughty cub and drag her home, right?

well, she can, but it's not going to keep you from doing it anyways. with this goal firmly in mind, you set off, leaving vrtra with azelie and her cubs. she'll keep him safe, although something is off with her lately - which is something else you intend to investigate - and maybe even teach him some manners.

on second thought... yeah, that's not gonna happen.

oh well, at least being an ungovernable little goblin is fun (speaking from experience there, are we, minna?) and comes with the added bonus of making authority figures pull their hair out. the grin that curls your lips is only slightly guilty - mostly it's just smug.

it'll be good practice for az, surely. her newborn son already seems to be a pawful, and you have a feeling he's going to be as much of a feral little bastard as you and your own son are. life's no fun if you follow all the rules, after all! although... being unhinged is how certain mountain incidents happen.

not that you'd know anything about such things.

wandering in the direction of Hillevi's last known location, you pause and lift your face to the air, hoping to catch a stray hint of her scent. the warmth and longing in your chest is... well, it's what anyone would feel for a friend who's been away for far too long. definitely platonic in every way.

massive paws continue on after a moment, carrying the weight of the cosmos within you closer to its match. you are fresh loam and deep earth; she is violent storms and giant waves. you are elements older than time itself, inextricably linked through all of existence no matter what form you take.

where one goes, so too must the other.