Malik
03-25-2022, 07:51 PM
The brown bear shows his white teeth and Malik grins in return, though the expression turns into an affectionate and not-so-subtle roll of his eyes at his shifting cousin’s humor and smug expression.
His cousin’s coloring would not be strange on the bears Malik has seen in the Riverlands, Malik thinks, but here in the snowy mountains of Hyaline the rich brown color is nothing at all like the native bears. Has Bolder been patrolling like this all winter, the black stallion wonders? The chestnut has returned now to his equine form, just as Malik ruefully shakes his head.
“No,” he says, “But not bad. I’ve been down on a little island that the flooding of Loess made in the Riverlands. The wind off the new sea is pretty warm and there was never even snow to my knees.” Since the snow on Hyaline’s tallest peaks remains even in the heart of summer, Malik’s idea of what is acceptable winter weather is somewhat skewed.
“I needed some time to get my head straight.” He continues, trusting Bolder to know that he means in the aftermath of his returned memories and the violent encounter with the thing that was once Gale, which he’d confessed after a long afternoon spent swimming through Loess’ canyons. Malik doesn’t elaborate, and instead turns his orange and blue eyes out to look at the mountains around them.
“It’s good to be home.” He says after a moment of silence, and finds that saying the words aloud to Bolder somehow makes them feel more true. He has missed Hyaline, both its soaring peaks and the faces of his family, and he soons turn back to his chestnut cousin with a genuine smile warming his mismatched eyes.
His cousin’s coloring would not be strange on the bears Malik has seen in the Riverlands, Malik thinks, but here in the snowy mountains of Hyaline the rich brown color is nothing at all like the native bears. Has Bolder been patrolling like this all winter, the black stallion wonders? The chestnut has returned now to his equine form, just as Malik ruefully shakes his head.
“No,” he says, “But not bad. I’ve been down on a little island that the flooding of Loess made in the Riverlands. The wind off the new sea is pretty warm and there was never even snow to my knees.” Since the snow on Hyaline’s tallest peaks remains even in the heart of summer, Malik’s idea of what is acceptable winter weather is somewhat skewed.
“I needed some time to get my head straight.” He continues, trusting Bolder to know that he means in the aftermath of his returned memories and the violent encounter with the thing that was once Gale, which he’d confessed after a long afternoon spent swimming through Loess’ canyons. Malik doesn’t elaborate, and instead turns his orange and blue eyes out to look at the mountains around them.
“It’s good to be home.” He says after a moment of silence, and finds that saying the words aloud to Bolder somehow makes them feel more true. He has missed Hyaline, both its soaring peaks and the faces of his family, and he soons turn back to his chestnut cousin with a genuine smile warming his mismatched eyes.