Shroud of the Lost not enough young in his lung for the water wings

The world stopped, it felt.

Lana had gone and not come back. Clouse remained to help family. He closed in on himself some. Convinced that it was him, somehow. Yet entirely unexpected to be hurt so wholly by what could only be labeled as loss.

Had he not told everyone they were free? So why did he wish so badly for something to be his?

Those who remained meant plenty to him. Somehow he only wondered, though, when they too might slip away. When the world would come with shinier things than a growingly ornery male and their fancy would fleet elsewhere. Claw and Llinnea perched upon adulthood now, sure to fly soon. Then he imagined Ve would take her break too.

He imagined all of it clearly. Enough to burn hot in his face with the imagined frustrations.

He made for the edge of the river and dreamed of a grand getaway of his own. Wondered if the world had anything for him, or if he was doomed to be like every man before him.

All the Claw feels coming your way

Things were changing. Around him and within him.

He couldn't truly speak for the others, but the marbled youth had been far from fooled by the wool the world tried to pull over their eyes as the weather warmed and the number of bodies that called the Split home slowly dwindled to almost nothing. Whatever semblance of family; a rather misfit one at that, they tried to fool themselves with crumbling right in front of them like a decrepit cemetery. The tufts of shed fur the flowers that marked their graves.

Day by day Claw watched until only Loach, Nea, and himself remained and day by day the reality that one day he would surely be abandoned again gnawed at the back of his mind, feeding the cancerous monster of anxiety that made itself home within the cavity of his chest. Thus he distanced himself from the others, even from the prickly old man that brought him back to this place to begin with. Steeling himself little by little for the cruel fate the gods had planned for him.

Claw found himself nestled beneath the shade of a nearby tree that laid close to the rivers edge in order to escape the warmth of the day, his mind churning with too many thoughts, too many what ifs until enough was enough. He needed a drink.

Two toned limbs hoisted the youth's large frame onto all fours, making his way down toward the water's edge only to find he wouldn't be drinking alone today. The familiar silhouette of the peppered old man surfaced and for a moment a splinter of glee filled his chest at the familiarity his presence signified, the corner of his lips tugging into a small smile as a chuff in greeting was made before the monster that lived in his chest clawed itself to the surface, ugly claws wiping away the smile until only a stoic expression could remain.

The less attached he became the less it would hurt once he too abandoned him.

Right?

He saw him. They looked at one another and Loach wondered how it was possible for them both to be so stoic. As if he suddenly peered into a mirror, as if the boy mimicked every little fear that trickled into Loach with each minute that ticked by.

Projection was such an ugly thing.

Ya wanna go swimmin', cubbin'? Thinkin' 'bout goin' out to the islands again.

Projection made him wait for rejection. Perhaps the stoic boy already had plans that did not involve the old man crowded in his space, maybe that was why he looked so lackluster at his arrival. Could Loach blame him? The last thing he had wanted as a teenager was all the adults around him.

Maybe he understood why his father had tried so hard now.

The older man was as stoic as ever, perhaps even going so far as to being the reason behind how the marbled youth had learned to become so himself. A near perfect mirror of the man that stood beside him once you subtracted the obvious genetic differences. This was when one could say like father, like son right? Loach was the closest thing likened to a father figure in his mind. The thought alone was almost amusing enough to earn a chuckle to bubble up, but alas it sizzled out before it could even reach the air outside his lungs. Much in the ways of his mother, it was only a matter of time before he too would leave him.

Perhaps Claw was just the type that was easily left behind.

Oh, how the intrusive thoughts were reigning supreme today.

An ebony ear twitched in response to the invitation that was casually offered, drawing the marbled youth's gaze out toward the flowing water and its welcoming embrace from the warmth outside it. "Yer able to keep afloat still, old man?" The familiar taunting fell naturally from inky lips as one corner curved slightly to shatter the stoic expression formerly held by his facial features, shifting his gaze to glimpse at Loach out the corner of his eye.

Nah, He jested back with ease. That's why I gotta have ya with me. A soft snort, even if the humor felt tired tinged around the edges. He easily convinced himself that he was unwanted, even if the boy didn't turn him away.

Anything you wanna see?

Maybe they both could breathe a little easier if they helped each other. Loach could give the boy the world and maybe it would soothe the angry parts of himself. If Claw let him? Well, it sure would help.

Yet he dared a step or two into the water and let the coldness relax his hot, cracked paw pads.

"Figured as much. Hopefully you've gone and lost some of yer winter weight finally. Makes it easier to carry ya if I gotta." The jesting between men continued, a snort returned with a snort all the while the edges of his lips began to slowly creep higher until a more visible smirk marred his dark maw. The weight of the reality surrounding them gradually easing with each unabashed jab at one another even if the relief would only be temporary.

For a fleeting moment Claw allowed silence to hang between them in retrospect of the question Loach posed, truly pondering over what, if anything, there was out there he wanted to see. Was it a test of sorts? To see if the boy had thoughts of moving on elsewhere, no longer enthralled by the magic the Split had to offer. Dark-clad shoulders rose and fell in the same expanse of time as he too took a couple steps forward to wade into the cool relief of the shallow water, his attention drawn toward a school of minnows that had been spooked away from the shoreline. Like the child he still was he leaned down to snap his jaws just below the water's surface, sending sprays of droplets off to either side in his blasé attempt at catching one of the fleeing shadows.

His head lifted back up to then spit the excess water that had collected in his cheeks at the peppered male, this time allowing a low chuckle to rumble in his chest. "Dunno. Maybe wade upstream and see what the water reveals." He gave a wolfish shrug again. "Improve my horrible fishing skills." He clowned himself with a half laugh, curious to see what type of reaction he'd get from Loach. Maybe they'd find another fishing spot they missed before. Claw knew fishing seemed to bring him joy without fail. Surely they deserved to selfishly find what happiness they could in this world of theirs right?

He rolled his eyes, but the soft pull of his lips upward hinted there was no offense. Admittedly, Loach probably would look older now. Leaned and thinned out for the summer, thinned fur exposed the lighter patches of his coloring.

Ya tellin' me you ain't been workin' on fishin' this whole time, cubbin'? He reached out with his shoulder, prepared to playfully shove the boy. Roughhousing in water certainly seemed dangerous by all accounts, but he expected Claw to handle it with ease. The boy had grown larger than Loach himself at this point. A young giant in the making it seemed.

Maybe Loach ought to be the one worried about safety in roughhousing...

Ah, crud. He'd outed himself with that one didn't he? A sheepish grin tugged back the inky lining of his lips by this point, ears swept back in embarrassment at having revealed his lack of practice honing his fishing skills with such prime real estate beneath their paws whenever he felt the urge to sink his fangs into some scales. "Maybe.." Claw retorted, his gaze immediately drawn to the incoming shoulder surely meant to shove the boy. Or try at least given the size difference that had sprung up between them.

"Whatcha gonna do about it old man?" The marbled youth goated, deciding a little roughhousing in the water; despite the dangers it could pose with one wrong step should they venture into the deeper reaches of the river, might just be what both of them needed to quell some of the pent up frustration that plagued them. Taking on the man's shove head on Claw was quick to counter by draping a forelimb over his shoulders, using his weight advantage just enough to hopefully bring Loach down into the cold water of the shallows.

Gonna teach ya. His voice raised over the now closing waters as Claw draped a leg over him. Loach hardly worried. He had been raised by the sea, a boy bobbing him was not comparable to the crashing waves of the pacific. In the moment, he longed for it and longed even more to show Claw it. Perhaps he had become more fatherly over the yearlings than he wished to admit.

He reached for the boy with his teeth now. Prepared to grasp his shoulder or scruff and pull him down too. He was just as prepared to shove him towards the shore too the moment things might become dangerous.

Yet for now, it all seemed idyllic in a way.

Gonna teach ya.

Idle chatter soon fell to the wayside as Claw's focus zeroed in on knocking the older male off balance. They were no crashing waves like the pacific he thought of, but crashing into water nonetheless was such a fate that awaited Loach as Claw attempted to drag him down only to be met with teeth that plotted their revenge to drag the boy down into the water alongside him. Teeth that found purchase on his scruff which were met with the growing rumble of a playful growl that reverberated within his throat.

The water splashed around their movements as the youth tried to shake Loach's grip, inexperienced still in managing the mass he had acquired the older he got yet determined to come out the victor in this slippery wrestling match. The beginnings of laughter began to gradually replace the growls in his throat, the heaviness of his anxiety ebbing away like the river's tide under the moon. For now peace of mind was to be had.

In an attempt to shake himself free from the peppered man's grip Claw twisted and bent to use his body weight in order to break free, the moment teeth slid free paws bounded backwards to put minimal distance between them. "Not so fast, old man." A cheeky smirk tugged at the corner of his maw while his upper body lowered into a play bow and forelimbs slapped at the water's surface in an attempt to spray the man, tail waving like a banner in the wind at his rear.