Terran
“Oh, trust me, I say with a hearty chuckle, “it was a very big surprise.”
The twinge of guilt lining Ander’s eyes causes me to bump a hefty shoulder against his own. “You should be proud. Your mother was a force to be reckoned with; I know that if she could, she’d be more than eager to show you how to use it.” I tell him, knowing it to be true. Jinju had been more awake to the impending doom of Taiga than the rest. Her attention to Ander and his safety had become acutely sharp in the weeks leading up the event and, biting my tongue, I keep myself from stumbling into darker areas of conversation.
Jinju wasn’t dead, after all. Simply reborn. “We’ve tried lots, but what haven’t we tried?” I ask Ander, hoping he’ll give me a few suggestions of where he might like to go. It’ll be his home too, once we arrive anyways. “There’s Nerine. I’m not sure what’s going on in Sylva. Hyaline is quiet as ever … and there’s always Loess, and aunt Heda.” I remind him, shuffling ahead so that we can try to track down Jinju.
I doubt she’s far off. Ander likes to keep a close watch on her and I never let her stray too far from my reaches either. “Or, we could make our own home. Taiga no longer seems to be under the ocean.” I tell him, noticing how he’d taken to glancing aside where the forest thickened across the bending twist of river. “Why don’t you choose? You’re becoming a man now. Soon enough you’ll be out on your own.” I laugh, knowing it to be a real statement even if I’d rather it never came true.
All around these golden beacons, I see nothing but black
@[Ander]