There was, admittedly, a lot of information to take in here. First and foremost: what in the hell where his children (and why only two of them?) doing here? Here, being quite the distance from their little family den, for smol legs - and at such an hour..

And oh, how the gears in Archon’s head were slowly beginning to turn, like an old motor beginning to start up after a long time of being idle. His eldest had snarled at him, but why had she needed to be so protective of her sister? Was it because they were in the wilderness, or something more?

Eidola had said that they had come looking for him, but Eidola and Archon had an agreement. And though many months had passed, she was no larger than she was before; he knew she could not hunt nor provide on her own, so terms for their deal had not been met - so why.. ?

But in the way her ears dropped, his gut twisted. He hated to see her like this. He hated to be so powerless, - but was he, truly? So powerless, when he could just take her away.. ? Was it so bad to want her to have a normal life, with her mother and sisters?

❝.. what do you mean she doesn’t care?.. ❞ There was a grave tone in his voice as he stepped closer, his lip twitching.

Tell me this isn’t what I think this is.

Kyros was so proud of herself, she was! She had found the Papa, she had protected Eidola from the weird, sky falling rat! It was an almost good day, if only her other sisters - even Meanie Pie could be here to see it. She took in a deep inhale as she let Eidola speak, an ear twitching.

Their papa didn’t seem to care for the critter, she noticed - did that mean it wasn’t a real threat? She was about to test this theory when Eidola said something that caught her attention - she doesn’t even care - and Kyros looked between her sister and her father, who well, she’d never seen him like that.

He wasn’t angry, but also, yes he was? Her ears folded back. ❝T-that’s not true! Mama did care! She cared not to notice us, like all the time! She liked to play pretend, yah!❞ Kyros swallowed, nodding her head.

❝Pretend the babies don’t exist! We didn’t even get stopped on the way here, and no one else came when we screamed about the Sky Rat!❞ She turned around and pointed at the thing.

❝I bet they don’t even know we’re gone! OR CARE!❞ Kyros huffed.

---

❝.. what do you mean she doesn’t care?.. ❞ her little jaws parted, but sister (to the rescue again) promptly beat her to it and saved her from the way her fathers tone made her belly churn. Even if it wasn't directed at her, the emotion hit her like a ton of bricks. Papa wasn't happy. ❝T-that’s not true! Mama did care! She cared not to notice us, like all the time! She liked to play pretend, yah!❞ Eidola nodded, straightening a little bit to support Kyros' playful banter on the subject. ❝Pretend the babies don’t exist! We didn’t even get stopped on the way here, and no one else came when we screamed about the Sky Rat!❞

❝I bet they don’t even know we’re gone! OR CARE!❞

It was true, they left when the sun was disappearing and no one even tried to stop them, hadn't mother noticed they weren't in the den? Hadn't anyone noticed and alerted her? They had to of known. How could they not know that two of the Shakti-Vaes pups were missing? No, they chose not to do anything. She let the thoughts come to fruition.

❝ I - I bet they know. How could mama not know we weren't at the den for bed time? ❞ besides; they weren't fast than the adults. If they wanted to, they could have caught up to them and marched their butts back home.

❝ speech ❞
notes

Archon listened very quietly to what his two daughters were telling him; … and he remembered the time that he and Tiberii had run away from home, without telling a soul. Why had that happened, again? Had.. had mom neglected her, too? He wouldn’t like to think so, no. Granted his mother, and fable were not the same, not even in the same gene pool (that would be weird, Archon) but he knew the reason Tiberii had wanted to run away involved their father, and being a dad now??

He wondered if it had been because Tiberii hadn’t felt like she had a voice. And.. isn’t that one of the reasons why fable was so hurt and so pissy with him? Because she had felt like she hadn’t had a voice, because Archon was oh so selfish, and cruel?

So he sat down, and listened to what they were saying. Really listened - because they were out here because history had just repeated itself, and they didn’t even know it.

And they were saying that they felt like their mother didn’t care about them.

We have each other now. Always. Come on, let’s get you to bed. You both must be tired and scared. We will talk more about this in the morning, when our nerves have settled.

He nodded his head sideways, pausing to kiss each daughter on the forehead and then he would lead them towards his den.

/exit, fade to black