Muddy River — The Shape of Dreams

When she started to speak, Caedwyn felt a wave of insecurity wash over him. He didn't want to stand by and be second-best to Rin. He didn't wan to wait around as simply a replacement until the day that Rin returned. He couldn't. He wouldn't. But when his actions forced an ultimatum on her, he doubted he'd made the right choice. Was it right to be so bold? Maybe he should've waited and seen how things played out first. No. He needed to do this now. Just as much as she didn't want to be heartbroken, he knew his own heart wouldn't be able to withstand it if they had somehow built a life together only for it to be stolen by Rin later on. He listened as she started to explain about those who had been turned to stone in the cataclysm and those who hadn't. He wasn't sure at first how any of that was related but he waited patiently. "I'm not going to let a memory hold me back." So this was about Tsillah's judgment. Did Enya believe Tsillah had caused the wolves to turn to stone? Caedwyn hadn't been sure, but thinking about it now he wondered if it had indeed been a test (or judgement) from the goddess. He felt relief cool his anxious blood when Enya said that she wasn't going to let Rin hold her back and his ears pricked slightly at the word 'beautiful'. Did she think that something between the two of them could be beautiful? Perhaps she was more optimistic about a relationship that she'd previously let on. Caedwyn's tail gave a subtle wag behind him at her reassuring words. Then she finally said what he only hoped she would. She had said she could love him in return. A smile moved to his maw and he felt overcome with emotion. He'd been so afraid of all his mistakes. He'd been afraid of Rin and that she'd choose Rin... or anyone... over him. He was afraid he wasn't good enough. But she was giving him a chance. Not only that, she didn't say she would "Try" to love him. She said she was sure she could. He blinked away the wetness that was still there from earlier and tried to stay calm as she finished speaking. Her final words were a proclamation, and a request of him. She was giving him her heart and he needed to protect it. Even before his mouth opened to speak, he had started nodding. "I'll defend it with my fangs," he said finally, dipping his head to stick his nose under her chin to nuzzle it carefully. "... and hold it carefully with my claws. He pushed forward a bit, rubbing his forehead into her cheeck. "And keep it warm with my fur. Your heart will have all of me." After nuzzling her he leaned back again so he could look at her face once more. Where did they go from here? It was all new to him. His eyes searched her face as though some sign would become clear from looking at her, studying her features. The evening light had dimmed almost completely, turning to twilight and soft blue tones of early night were upon them. When had the night crept forward? The sun was just below the horizon, leaking a few golden rays in the distance and staining the sky with a deep purple. But he wasn't looking at the sunset. His eyes were focused on her and he suddenly noticed now how little clumps of mud were stuck in her hairs from where they had touched. In fact, they were both absolutely filthy. He of course had gone swimming in the mud earlier and some of it had smeared her side when they were galivanting in the riverbed, but now with everything that had happened he could see how it had dried into dusty clumps all over her body. "If-if you haven't had enough of me, would you like to go down to the river with together?" he asked, his voice sounding a little timid as he motioned with his nose to follow and took a step away from her to indicate which direction he was going. "There's a place a little north of here where the river isn't all dried. I didn't mean to get you all muddy." How things had changed in an afternoon. Only earlier he'd been teasing her about how muddy he was (and contemplating throwing her into the mud alongside him as a joke), and now he was apologizing to her over it. But he figured a good first step in showing his commitment was at least offering to get her cleaned up. --- Speech.