[private] tear down hollows, take back eternity; Nashua

[Nashua]

Nashua chooses to see a steadfast stallion because that is what he needs. The North would act as one, or everything that Leilan and Lilliana and Neverwhere had tried to build would have been for nothing. And that is something that the Freyr is so tired of; there is too much struggle and strife for it to mean nothing. Their predecessors gave them a foundation to build upon and Nash intends to use it to make the North stronger than it had ever been before.

But that dream had started when Reave had been small - before he had taken the title of Guardian - and it had always been a dream that Nashua had shared with Yanhua. It had never occurred to Nash that there might come a time when his brother would no longer be in Taiga; his devotion to that forest had been deeply-rooted and renowned throughout Beqanna.  While he (truthfully) knows little about the ability that Reave shares with many of their kin, Nash had always assumed that his younger brother would have used to aid their family.

He had, Nash knew.  He had used to locate Bolder because Noel had asked and while the striped pegasus hadn't made the journey to Nerine himself, Nashua had thought it the end of the discussion. His son was a shifter - and so therefore by the rules of the Pack - safe for the time being. His pale mate had been granted permission to visit their youngest and Nashua had understood that his presence could have endangered their son.

If there had been more to the story, Nashua had thought that his brother would have said so.

"Perhaps it has escaped your notice," Nash bites back to his younger sibling. "But I can only be in so many places at once. I am not a Magician, like Leilan, nor do I have the ability of foresight, like you. Noel came to you because I could not." His temper flares and the only way to quell it is by looking away from Reave, by schooling his expression towards the churning sea. "Which is why we will move the kingdom seat to Nerine, because it poses too much of a risk to keep it on the Isle."

Because Nashua is only mortal, and while Leilan's portals have granted him some reprieve from his near-constant oceanic flights from Taiga to the Isle, it is not a long-term solution. That would only come from restoring the Northern seat back to Nerine, where it was shielded by the mighty Taiga and defended by the brisk Isle. That would only work if the three territories could work together, and that would only work if the three leaders trusted each other.

Reave continues to growl back at him - retort after retort - and Nashua inhales deeply, refraining from turning his temper on his younger brother. It nearly works, until the Guardian mentions that it had been him who had been concerned about the welfare of the North. As if Nashua hadn't done his part to keep their borders protected and their home quiet. As if his endless patrols amounted to nothing, as if the sacrifices that Noel and their children had endured had meant nothing.

"Because he is your fucking brother, too." He finally snaps back and turns his sharp gaze back on Reave. "Because if it had been you who went missing," Nashua continues, absolutely certain of Yan in this as he is of himself, "we wouldn't have stopped tearing this fucking place apart until we learned what happened to you. Because you, like him and the rest of the North, are my fucking priority or we wouldn't be having this conversation."

@Reave