He stands in the rain, uncaring that it drew a chill to his too-thin body, wanting only to feel something different and something real for a change. Pan had escaped. From where, he couldn’t say… but he was back to something familiar once more. The boy had no real idea of how much time had passed, but his feet had traced the way back to his cave, each memorized step bringing warm thoughts of home to him once again. Through the weariness of travel, he had pressed onward to Delumine, winding his way at long last toward the hidden cave, long abandoned in what seemed like a different lifetime.
Pan had stepped inside, pushing away a rough collection of brambles and leaves which had collected in his absence. He had wound through the twists and turns of the cave, feet falling almost soundlessly on damp mosses as he wept silently as memories wracked his mind. Gone were the voices of his past, gone even were some of his treasures. Those which remained were covered in dust, long forgotten by whatever curious seekers might have stumbled upon them. Perhaps the green scaled boy had been forgotten by Novus as well. Only time would tell.
For several days, he’d slept unbothered in the security of his once-home, tossing on a fresh bed of leaves as his otter snuggled close for comfort. He’d listened to the soft patter of summer rain, drawing the scent of damp earth into his chest. He’d cleaned the dust from what remained of his collection, and nibbled on the remnants of a days-old pastry he’d acquired at Summerfest in Denocte. And now, after building his courage, the boy had ventured out into the world once more.
The pathways to the Dawn Court were familiar, and yet the entire land had changed since Pan had been away. His feet led him through the muddy paths, deep into the heart of Delumine until he once again stood before the towering Dawn Court castle. As the summer rain stilled around him, the boy simply watched for signs of life, smiling wistfully as he remembered the best times he’d had in this place… before the murders, and before the chaos that had driven him from Novus in the first place.
Now, he traces the graceful archways with wiser eyes, seeking and yearning for belonging even as his vagabond heart pulls him from aligning himself to one court or the next. And then, those eyes find hers. Curiosity piques from the boy to the girl, as he offers her a friendly sort of smile, rain dripping from his alabaster mane as it runs in rivets down his Arabian frame and tangles in his scales. He watches her with interest, cocking his head playfully to the side as Oliver (his trusty companion) slinks from his bag and settles like a cape around his neck, as if challenging her to step from the castle to greet the summer rain.
It seemed the lost boy was home, and maybe not so lost and alone as he had once thought.
@Maret
