ERD
They had yet to truly return to Terrastella since the floods and the resulting evacuations. Honestly, they hadn’t been certain if they wanted to. The days’ outing to the sea and the corresponding shoreline was as close as they had come to returning to the Dusk Court, and Erd knew that they both were feeling anxious.
Denocte had become some mockery of a home for them, a reluctant place to rest their heads in seclusion. He and Ard had remained ostracized among the court full of stars and moonlight, preferring the company of one another over continuing to attempt to get to know the other members of the Night Court. Every other attempt had ended in failure, and Erd knew that while he wanted to continue to try and get to know the creatures that called Denocte home, Ard had had enough.
’Let’s just leave,’ his brother had whispered to him, huddled close through the long winter, then a grueling spring, repeated again even beyond summer as autumns’ cold kiss began to grace the breezy mornings, ’It can be just the two of us, Erd. We don’t need them.’ He hadn’t said it out loud, but Erd had understood what his twin brother meant; they did not need anyone, and they did not need a Court. They had survived with only one another so far, hadn’t they?
Despite their uncertainties and warring hearts, Erd somehow convinced his brother to take a day trip to the ocean for some fresh air. Maybe being so close to Terrastella would stir the desire to return. Maybe they would encounter someone that they knew. Regardless of what could be, the silvered warlocks donned their black cloaks and cowls, took to the skies, and arrived upon the soft sands of the Terminus Sea in good time.
Salt and brine carried on the breeze and caught his nose as he traipsed through the sand at a leisurely walk, hood and cowl down to rest warmly against his chest, Ard at his other side facing inland. Taupe and silver hair danced with the ocean wind, turquoise eyes peering through to spot a single figure heaving himself from the churning waves and back towards land. The figure was a darkly colored bay fellow that Erd could not recognize, his scent foreign as it mingled upon salt and sunlight. Knowing that it would be no time at all for the stranger to spot them, if he hadn’t already, the petite warlock grinned ruefully from his spot beside his twin and called out a placid greeting, his voice carrying easily.
“A good day for a swim, huh?”
