[private] you could be the one that I keep

[Tarian]

The way Altissima leaned into him felt like home.

Loess was the closest physical place that had ever come close after losing Paraiso, and now that too was gone beneath the angry, dismal sea that crashed below their hooves. Tarian looked off into the distance where the tallest parts of Loess still emerged from the newly-formed ocean, and his blue eyes lingered on the red peaks before turning his pale face towards the pegasus mare beside him and lowering it into the warmth of her light blue neck.

This was home for Tarian, and knowing that she was safe beside him untied one knot of worry. Hearing that their children had left before the catastrophe and had headed towards the Forest untied two more. Tarian exhaled, letting loose a breath that had held all his tightly-wound fears (though others still remained; what had become of Lady Oceane and her family? What of Ashhal? The other former residents of Loess?)

Her head turns, and Tarian lifts his, glancing in the same direction Altissima does. "Good," he says more to himself, a verbal affirmation of everything that his mate has already said. Tarian had never wanted their children to travel too far outside the borders of Loess, but this time, he has glad that Starros and Areane had heeded more towards the wandering nature of their dam. That instinct could have very well spared their lives, and not for the first time, the gray pegasus is grateful that their offspring took after their mother than him.

There were still hours of daylight left, and as Tarian battled his concern, he said, "They will come back this way." The earth shakes might delay them for a little while, and while he shares the strong instinct to go searching for their twins, he reminds himself that Starros and Areane knew the landmarks and the trails returning to Loess well despite their young age. "We'll be waiting for them here when they return." He states, pausing to graze his dark muzzle against Altissima's slender cheek, a touch of simultaneous comfort and support.

"And then we'll -" he murmurs, before becoming uncharacteristically unsure and pausing. This isn't the first time Tarian has been without a home, and he knows that this is true for Altissima as well. But what of Starros and Areane? "Is there somewhere you would want to go?"

@Altissima