wrote a letter to the mountains, have they wrote me back?

The lake had become a place of solace to retreat to when his wandering made him weary and he sought repose. It wouldn't strike him so clearly that his comfort within this specific territory came from the mirror of his home—surrounded by mountains that touched the skies, encompassed entirely in their shadows like a blanket. It felt like home as much as such a stranger world could.

This comfort could only stretch so far, he believed, as he settled beside the lake with a tired groan, setting his muzzle on his forepaws.

He yearned for his pack—his family—unendingly, so desperate for not only their familiarity but to know they were well... As their leader, brother... son, M'Jakuna loathed to think that, just maybe, they thought he abandoned his duties to each role in life. He'd never.

He'd never.

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There was perhaps a lot to be said about a mother's love.

Amvrulao felt the way her heart squeezed painfully within its bone cage without the sight of her children. She hadnt been able to have a large litter but that hadn't mattered; she was mother to most. Even if they had not come from her womb, she didn't see a difference. If one needed a mother, Amvrulao easily fell into the position. The Pack had, in truth, been many of her children. Even when they were adults of 4 or 5, the older woman would still consider them her children.

She had been blessed with a small litter but further had her blessing been gifted by a pack becoming family.

She was without them now, blood and chosen and it felt as if she were in mourning. Amvrulao believed M'Jakuna to be alive, there was no doubts about that but she couldn't help but mourn his company. The elegant woman would walk with purpose and grace, sweeping her tail behind her as her vibrant gaze drifted to the crystal blue of the lake. 

The body near it.

Black and tan.

So familiar that it made her heart jerk.

"M'jakuna," The woman breathed, her long legs carrying her forward. "My child," he was hers, it was him -- she couldn't confuse him with another.

Not ever. ^^

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His ears twitched to the sound of footfalls near, movements languid as though even in the uncertainty of this land he couldn't bring himself to be a reactionary creature, lifting upright to sit on his haunches, he shook his fur out... and froze. His heart thumping once so furiously he swore it'd beat out from between his ribs.

My child.

Far and wide he could travel... at the end of his life and the beginning of whatever this new world brought him through, he'd know her voice; nursed by it before he ever took a breath, warmed by it during the nights of a chilled spring, tucked away in their den. It was a part of him as much as the blood coursing through his veins. He never had to see her to feel a lump take his throat.

But he did. He turned and he saw and his ears twitched back, fawn drawn low. "Mother?" his voice a whisper of hurt and comfort, cracking along. He brought himself upright, all fours. "Mother..." M'Jakuna was but a boy as he spoke, eager paws bringing him first to a walk then rush forward, eyes keen on her dark coat against the blossoming sun at her back—a beacon as she'd always been.

M'Jakuna barely had it in him to bring himself to slow before her met her, pressing his forehead to hers, pulling it to a nuzzle against her cheek. "Oh, I thought I'd lost you," he uttered. "But you're here—you're here."

Oh, he was but a boy, desperate for his mother's touch like he worried she'd leave, or he'd blink and wake alone again.

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He came to her. She saw the recognition upon his face, the way he looked at home as he gazed at her. She had no doubt he would be delighted to see her yet it made her chest explode with affection even still. She rushed to meet him as he bowed his head against her own, forehead to forehead. "For you, my boy, I am always here," the mother whispered fiercely, drawing up a slender leg to wrap it around him where she could to further bring him to her.

She breathed him in, letting her senses be engulfed by him. "My precious son," Amvrulao cooed as she drew her tongue along his cheek, peppering whatever part of his face that she could in her kisses. From now, she would not see him away from her. She couldnt. Amvrulao didn't believe he would try and send her away but then could he move the mountain that she was now that she had found him again? 

"So long as there is life in me, my child, I will come for you," she told him as she withdrew her head to look at him, her smile soft but her words truthful. She had spoken to the ancestors to get her here, wherever here was -- world's nor beasts would stop her from her children. ^^

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Though he'd grown far taller than her long ago, that fact fell away as he leaned into her, his tail wagging like he was a puppy once more.

Having been alongside her all his life, straying only so often and even then for such short periods, something so integral had been plucked away when he woke in this land. Bits of him lost to a world he couldn't find now. It brought a relief to his mind... allowed him to breathe, finally. M'Jakuna withdrew only a little so that he could let his gaze find hers, familiarity in the gold looking back at him.

"How?" he said, trying desperately to make sense of this. "No matter what I've done, I haven't been able to understand how I've gotten here—oh, the others, the pack—is everyone okay? Are you okay?" A beat, he swallowed, ears flicking back to mat into the thick fur of his ruff. "Oh, Mother, I've tried so hard to find some way back but, awh, I've not found anything... nothing... just this."

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"I spoke with our ancestors," she hummed easily, golden gaze unable to leave his face. "They showed me you, my child. It was blurry but I knew it was you and when I woke from the herbs, I was here," it had to be the intervention from their ancestors. They saw her plead, saw the measures she had taken to have any insight upon the whereabouts of her son and took mercy.

She recalled the taste of it on her tongue, the herbs not one's she was new to yet she hadn't used them for something so dire before. How could she not request their help when it came to her son? "Oh my sweet boy, you can be certain the others will seek to join us. Family calls to family," whether they would take the path she did, Amvrulao couldn't be sure. If she had managed to follow him, she had a feeling others would be along too. When... how... she knew not but she had faith their people would come.

"I am better now that I have found you," she cooed softly. "It is fine, wherever we are... we will take the opportunity, hm? They will follow and if there is no way home... then we make this our home," so long as they had each other, she knew home would be anywhere. She stepped back to wash her gaze over him with a soft hum, "have you been eating, my boy?" Amvrulao knew he was young, far younger than she so he could do better without a meal but that didn't mean she thought he should. She would keep his belly full and stuffed, happy and healthy.

"tell me, are you alone?"^^

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It made sense to him undoubtedly. When he'd first taken claim of the role as leader, M'Jakuna had been able to meet the Ancestors, a silent journey of watching than it was of one communication—for him—his grandma used to talk of the lengthy conversation she had with them, recalled it like it was a simple meeting with an old friend. He'd come to think the Ancestors appeared only in the way they were needed most; for guidance, for observing... for bringing his mother here.

M'Jakuna sighed, nodding; finding reassurance as she spoke what he thought, had hoped to be true and knew it honestly now with her standing here as proof. His family would come, eventually, the pack, too. It was only a matter of time.

"I'm relieved you were the first," he said to her, love his siblings, his counsel, the others as he did—a child rarely wished for much more than their mother. His ears flicked upright, steadying his posture like so, letting out a chuckle that bordered sheepish, admitting, "I've been eating—though, for certain not as much as you'd probably like—it might be more if I wasn't so busy."

He'd tell her before asking, elaborating then with a fang-flashing smile. "I've found two for certain, the few others... I'm uncertain if they're to commit entirely but," he said. "Meresankh, she's worth more than a dozen in some limbo, believes as a true Juh'harahian through and through, and the boy—my boy now, Ozai—I'll believe he'll take to the pack, especially with you here, he just needs a gentler touch than most I do believe. He's had it cruel it seems." After a beat, he went on. "I think we can rebuild the Juh'harah here—this land needs what we believe, and if we can't find some way home, well... We'll make the most of what we've got now. See, I know... I know you've taken to your retirement, Mother, but there's no one I'd want more on my counsel in this world than you."

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There was nothing in the world that could compare to the bond that a mother and her children held and it was further proved by M'Jakuna's reveal that he was relieved it was her first. She knew he held nothing but love for his siblings but there was nothing quite like having your mother at your side. Amvrulao had known loss, felt it when she lost her mother and what she would give to have her at her side again; it pained her to know that one day, her own children would be without her. That they would know the pain. All she could do was be there for them in the now and set them on the path right. "My boy," she cooed gently, smiling at him softly. "Well, consider yourself less busy now that I am here, hm? You will soon have a belly," she teased lightly, an amused glint in her golden gaze.

Amvrulao listened as he answered her question, swallowing the information easily. "A grandchild!" Amvrulao laughed, uncaring that it was not by blood, that her boy had adopted his own boy. "He will not know a cruel touch ever again, this we can assure," it was easy to see the way her features grew stern and unforgiving; Amvrulao was a mother to all, blood or not and she would not stand for neglect or harm. To children, to adults; not to their own. It was unheard of and truly, she knew that her boy wouldn't stand for it, either.

He spoke of her retirement but he told her of his desires for her at his council and all Amvrulao could do was laugh softly. "Oh, sweet boy, retirement is fine but to help you and the Juh'harah is an honour," he was terribly sweet and she couldn't help but lean over and deliver a kiss to his nose, "I would be delighted to sit in your council, M'Jakuna. We will reform and we will rebuild, stronger than ever and when our people come to us, their home will be waiting." Amvrulao said, voice warm and full of determination. ^^

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