Alces: A vine slapped Multhi across the face, forcing him awake. "What the HELL were you thinking?!"
Multhi: He sat up, staring up at him, breath unsteady. "I deserved to know what took place here!"
Alces: He grabbed him by his robe, lifting him to eye level. "AND DO WHAT? DIE HERE WITH ANSWERS? OH HOW SMART OF YOU!" His eyes burned red with rage.
Multhi: He shoved him back hard. "AND WHAT IS SMART, HUH?! WHEN HAS ANY OF THIS BEEN FUCKING SMART OR FAIR?! I DIDN'T ASK TO BE BORN INTO A WORLD OF FEAR AND CONTROL! I DIDN'T ASK TO LOSE MY ENTIRE FAMILY BEFORE I COULD EVEN FUCKING WALK!" The storm around them thickened, snow and wind screaming in response to his voice.
Multhi: "THEY DIED BECAUSE OF HIM!" His voice cracked, but he kept shouting. "WE HIDE BECAUSE OF HIM! WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF OPPRESSION AND FEAR BECAUSE OF VALKUN!" Ice crept outward from his feet, the air biting and sharp. "My sister and I have been hiding with you for THOUSANDS of years, doing NOTHING!" His hands shook. "Our people are DEAD! Our home is GONE! So tell me, Alces..."
He slammed his staff into the ground. The storm collapsed inward, crystals screaming as they formed around it. "WHAT ARE WE DOING TO BRING IT BACK?!"
Alces: His hands balled up, his entire body shaking, "I promised your father that I would keep you alive."
Multhi: "This isn't living, you are just doing what Valkun is doing without added death, who are you to decide how I live? To decide what I have of my parents' legacy."
Alces: His hands balled up, vines creaking beneath his feet as his entire body shook. "I promised your father that I would keep you alive." His voice cracked despite his effort to hold it steady. "That was my oath."
Multhi: He took a step forward, snow crunching beneath his boots. "This isn't living." His voice trembled, but he did not stop. "This is hiding. You're just doing what Valkun does, only without the fire and the bodies."
Alces: "Do not compare me to him."
Multhi: "Then stop deciding my life for me." His grip tightened around the staff, frost crawling up the crystals. "Who are you to choose how I exist? Who are you to lock away what little I have left of them?"
Alces: His breath came uneven now. "I am the one who watched them die."
Multhi: "And I am the one who grew up with ghosts." His eyes burned, wet but unblinking. "You had memories. I had echoes. Names. Blood in the snow." He struck the ground once, not in rage, but in pain. "You protect me from the world, but you are also protecting the world from me."
Alces: He turned away, shoulders rising and falling as if the forest itself weighed on him. The vines at his feet withered slightly, leaves curling inward. "You think this is about tactics?" His voice was low now. "About waiting for the right moment?" He laughed once, short and hollow. "I am terrified."
Multhi: He froze, his expression slowly softening.
Alces: He faced him again, eyes no longer burning, only tired. "Every time you step beyond this place, I see him." His hand trembled as he pressed it to his chest. "I see fire on snow. I see blood in the wind. I hear your mother scream your name."
"I tell myself I am protecting you, but the truth is…" His voice failed for a moment. He swallowed hard. "I am afraid that if you face him, the world will take you the same way it took them."
Multhi: "Alces…"
Alces: "I couldn't save them." The words barely escaped his throat. "So I cling to you. To your sister. Because if I lose you too…" He shook his head, unable to finish. The vines around them stilled completely. "This is not wisdom." He met Multhi's eyes. "It is fear. And it has been guiding me for far too long."
"…If you walk this path, I may lose you." He straightened, forcing himself to stand tall despite the fracture in his voice. "But if I keep you caged here, I will lose you anyway. You are the future king, I am just an old man, I have no say here-"
Multhi: "You are not just an old man, you were a king once, you are my family. If we are to rebuild our legacy, then we mustn't hide; we have to stand against our oppressors, rise taller than they ever can." He held out his hand, "I apologize for getting angry with you and attempting to take matters into my own hands."
Alces: He took his hand, shaking it, "I understand why you did what you did, reckless, but understandable."
Tiffany: She finally stumbled through a rift, incredibly out of breath. "YOU TWO...damn...ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!"
Alces: "We already handled it, Tiffany." He stared down at her.
Multhi: He snickered, "I'm sorry, it's just funny to see you all exhausted."
Tiffany: "I don't wanna hear it from you!" She snapped at him, pulling him down by his ear, "I can not believe you would do something so reckless!"
Alces: He was staring up at the sky, "Guys-"
Tiffany: "Do you even have the slightest comprehension as to how worried I was, how worried WE WERE?!"
Multhi: He tried pulling away, "OW OW, OKAY IM SORRY!"
Alces: "GUYS!"
Tiffany: Her head snapped towards him, "WHAT?!" She noticed he was staring up at the sky, and there was a warming light shining down on them. As she looked up, a large figure was floating in the sky with heavenly light shining down on it. She slowly let go of Multhi, staring up at the light, watching as the large figure's wings stretched out, flapping slowly. "Who..."
????: The hooded angelic figure landed in front of them, his wings tucked in behind him, "I was informed by a comrade that ye all require assistance to rise once more upon thy feet."
Multhi: He straightened up, staring at him, "Who are you?" He was mesmerized by the character's radiance.
Uriel: "Archangel Uriel."