2/9/2025, 1:13 AM
![[Image: shybadge.png]](http://magatia.net/x/shybadge.png)
SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )
Set between the 1st and 2nd round fights!
Set between the 1st and 2nd round fights!
The trip to Northfall had become an intended respite amid stormclouds that had converged for so long. When he first told his sister and nieces of the festival, there had been one additional party he thought would also come: Archon.
That, for obvious reasons, had not come to pass.
Fable had been tight-lipped on any specific details as the children were often within earshot, citing only "differences" when he tried to nudge her for explanation as to why she and Archon had split. He planned to angle for her to at least stay within Dawnbreak for a few days once they arrived home after the tourney - she needed to rest, and he could see the air of utter fatigue that surrounded her. He'd known her for decades, he knew his sister.
The dissolution of their marriage should have brought the knight at least a tinge of sadness, but it didn't. His faith in Archon had been shaken ever since he told him that Fable was dead for reasons he never even explained. It had been difficult to keep a neutral face on around him since, but it had been necessary due to the five tiny lives that were his nieces.
While he questioned Fable's thought process in even producing them, he wouldn't wish them away - and he understood, he thought. She had lost her previous litter and, while he doubted she intended to replace those missing lives, he suspected this was what she thought would bind the broken parts of herself.
It did not seem to be what her marriage needed, however.
Shiloh had initially felt guilt for not being there when it all crumbled, but he had other matters to tend to that took the shape of a smoke-and-cinder woman. She had lost Genghis - all of the Shakti-Vaes children had - and he was needed there, even while he was needed back home. He selfishly hoped Fable would be amenable to consolidating the broken pieces of Avon into Dawnbreak for greater support and safety - and so he didn't have to cut himself in two - but he couldn't make that decision for her. He could only suggest.
There would be time for discussion, for laying out how the ailing group would move forward.
For now, Shiloh turned his focus on one of his nieces: Nausicaa.
He had watched with pride as she went toe-to-toe with the other pup and, even though he had to go rescue her from the vicious whelp, it had been brave to even enter the ring. Based on his own lack of appetite for losing, he suspected his niece might be taking her loss hard.
Two branches he had pruned into makeshift weapons were clamped in his jaws as he sought his patchwork niece out. It hadn't taken long to find her and he gave her a quiet boof to get her attention, tipping his head toward his shoulder to ask her to follow him.
It was imperative Fable didn't know what they were doing or she would be dragging him to the ring herself.
That, for obvious reasons, had not come to pass.
Fable had been tight-lipped on any specific details as the children were often within earshot, citing only "differences" when he tried to nudge her for explanation as to why she and Archon had split. He planned to angle for her to at least stay within Dawnbreak for a few days once they arrived home after the tourney - she needed to rest, and he could see the air of utter fatigue that surrounded her. He'd known her for decades, he knew his sister.
The dissolution of their marriage should have brought the knight at least a tinge of sadness, but it didn't. His faith in Archon had been shaken ever since he told him that Fable was dead for reasons he never even explained. It had been difficult to keep a neutral face on around him since, but it had been necessary due to the five tiny lives that were his nieces.
While he questioned Fable's thought process in even producing them, he wouldn't wish them away - and he understood, he thought. She had lost her previous litter and, while he doubted she intended to replace those missing lives, he suspected this was what she thought would bind the broken parts of herself.
It did not seem to be what her marriage needed, however.
Shiloh had initially felt guilt for not being there when it all crumbled, but he had other matters to tend to that took the shape of a smoke-and-cinder woman. She had lost Genghis - all of the Shakti-Vaes children had - and he was needed there, even while he was needed back home. He selfishly hoped Fable would be amenable to consolidating the broken pieces of Avon into Dawnbreak for greater support and safety - and so he didn't have to cut himself in two - but he couldn't make that decision for her. He could only suggest.
There would be time for discussion, for laying out how the ailing group would move forward.
For now, Shiloh turned his focus on one of his nieces: Nausicaa.
He had watched with pride as she went toe-to-toe with the other pup and, even though he had to go rescue her from the vicious whelp, it had been brave to even enter the ring. Based on his own lack of appetite for losing, he suspected his niece might be taking her loss hard.
Two branches he had pruned into makeshift weapons were clamped in his jaws as he sought his patchwork niece out. It hadn't taken long to find her and he gave her a quiet boof to get her attention, tipping his head toward his shoulder to ask her to follow him.
It was imperative Fable didn't know what they were doing or she would be dragging him to the ring herself.
![[Image: Viv_ShilohFB.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Viv_ShilohFB.gif)
