thus the shadows

@Lucian

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There was nothing but darkness. That was a good thing. Živko always preferred the perilous night to the ravaging sun that seemed to burn his skin at every opportunity. The night was a gateway to all things both good and evil. Whereas the sun...the sun shined far too brightly for the monster's within to reveal themselves in good nature.

In their most natural element.

He emerged from them. Reborn from the dusk. Živko came alive when the sun would set, shaking out his dark furs. But when he stepped out of the plague that covered the Earth for a short time, he didn't recognize it. What was this trickery? He observed the snowy mountain tops, the flakes of it falling against his fur. It stuck plainly, leaving remnants of dewdrops on the tips of his onyx coat.

Živko was simply born again from the shadows. Nothing else could be said about it. With his lithe, agile frame, he could slip in an out of any position that he managed to weave himself into. Most of the time. But he didn't dwell on his past...failures— the word alone gave him chills— and would scale the mountain that he apparently fell into. Onto? There?

Where was here?

"Strange..." He muttered to himself, taking the quiet steps in the open of the territory. He wanted to be found.

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Lucian had spent his days working to build his kingdom, from patrolling its newly set boundaries to learning the layout of Risnjak. The land was unforgiving, littered with steep cliffs and icy creeks. It was the closest in resemblance to his past lands, and he knew it would bring a sense of familiarity for Vanille and himself. Lucian wanted the woman to love the place as much as he did. To notice that he listened to her and wanted what was best for her. She was always in his mind, even on evenings such as these.

The man was traveling back along the new path he wished to set for his family. It was the sole path to the northwestern shores, a region he had just begun to discover for himself. Perhaps on his next visit, he'd find a gift for Vanille there.

As the man came up the path towards the valley of the peaks, his pale gaze locked in on a dark shape in the middle of the clearing. His brows narrowed as he came to a pause. What a fool. "Upadate na Caelistian zemlju." — You are trespassing on Caelistian land. He called, gruff voice echoing in the broad space.

"Živko, jesi li to ti?" — Živko, is that you? Lucian asked as he came closer. The prince still remembered their days as young boys, training together and spending time exploring the thicket near the abode. Within himself, he knew the stranger was his childhood friend. He had found Kyrillos and Vanille here, so there is a chance it is the man. But his father's words caused him to harden, expression as icy as the land he now called home. He should know better than to hope.

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