rebirth in reprise

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Morning rains had kept him in the lowlands and with good reason—he didn’t have complete trust in the remaining snow pack that lingered at higher elevations. It came with the hazard of winter into spring, much in the way that the river had swelled out of its banks in its lazy path. He had been keeping an eye on it for the past week, aiding in the adjustment of their border where the water dared to retake their land. Little they could do about that, but at least any wandering sorts would get a heads up before they came washing up somewhere they shouldn’t have been.

After slogging through a muddy stretch where the water had receded, Dirge took to higher grounds to continue his survey. With a shake of his damp coat, he wove his way along the ferns and towering trees; he was curious what else the spring would bring, and whether or not the idyllic nature of the place they stayed would linger. He couldn’t avoid slipping into the thought that not all was as it seemed from time to time, but the frequency of such had waned greatly with time.

Nearing the top of a low hill he paused, deciding then and there was as good as any of a place to rest. Reclining to his haunches, his attention went skyward to peer through the forest canopy and the clouds that moved in. If he had to guess, there was more rain on the way.
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The sound of footfalls reached him; an ear turned towards them to listen, trying to discern their owner without the aid of sight. There was something casual about their placement, easygoing enough that he knew it not to be Hydra or Jarilo. One of the children then, though he couldn’t quite tell Osiris from Altair on pace alone. That skill remained solely in the mastery of Hydra, not that he needed the ability to tell the difference—not when Osiris popped into the edge of his view to greet him.

A stray raindrop hit him between the eyes as his son spoke and in turn, Dirge let his gaze sink from the covering skies.

“Just trying to decide what the weather will do for us next,” he said with the shake of his head. “Seems to want to offer us more of the same, much to the river’s chagrin.” Or was it their own? Nature did as it pleased, unwilling to be tamed. Perhaps much could be said the same about them, too. He gave Osiris a once over, assessing the eldest of his children that he knew to be among them.

“Were you planning on heading out for the day?”
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The meekness and uncertainty in Osiris unsettled him; had he always been that way? The way his words seem to fall out backward and over themselves almost implied some sort of fear, but the reason why such would exist in the first place baffled him. It almost didn’t spare Osiris a look, though ultimately the one thing they did share in that moment was a continuance of observation over a landscape neither were keen on taking in.

He realized then that perhaps he wasn’t the best one to ask these things to. No, he had been ambitious—Hydra had been as much of a conquest as she had been a treasure. Theirs was one of an interesting bout of happenstance and adventure, even if it hadn’t quite been the flavor he had original sought. Dirge had never sought permission, he took, and the consequences be damned. He had never been careless, however, and perhaps it was that in which caution had now extended itself to his son.

Still, the ambition reared itself, and Osiris wanted to talk.

“Why?”

It was not a cruelly asked question or expression that met Osiris then; Dirge summed and scrutinized him no differently then than he would have another. Was it permission he sought? Perhaps wise, though he could not see Hydra turning her teeth towards her own. Not for that, not willingly. They had raised their own better than that and he didn’t believe for a moment that Osiris would be careless.

Still, he couldn’t help but test the waters that the boy wanted to tread. How badly did he want that of which he was uncertain of? He doubted it was pressure from Leta—she was sweet, well suited to his son, and he couldn’t fathom it being sourced from her. If something called to him, then Dirge sought to test its mettle.

“She’ll let you know when it’s time,” he added.
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