c i a n //
He had been so preoccupied between exploring that purple place, and getting to know Sloan better, AND looking for that son of a bitch Sterling, he had lost track of time, and of his family. For a while, the trek back to Gemini had been pleasant, Cian had been talking to Sloan, telling stories about pirates and things He and K and Croc would do. He'd spoken and laughed, and called out for his brothers. Over and over. At first he had thought that maybe, they just couldn't;t hear him, and were just talking with their own friends. So for a while, he gave no thought to it. He continued his conversations with Sloan, and everything was ok.
Until it wasn't.
When they had returned to Gemini, he had said goodbye to Sloan as he raced back to the den to see Ma and Pa, and K and Croc, and Shuck. He got there first of course, because the rest of them were too slow haha. So he waited outside the den for them, he paced the opening, and he kicked rock, he even had time to draw a picture in the dirt as Sloan had taught him, until the light of the sun no longer lit the sky. A pang of worry sat in his gut, but it was followed by a thought of maybe they were just spending the night at their friends. So he slept that night, his consciousness flooding his dreams with Sterling doing unspeakable things to his brothers. Slaugtering them, ripping them apart, destroying them.
It wasn't until the vision of K getting pushed off a cliff into flames, that he jolted awake, shaking and in tears. He looked around the den to see that they were still not there. "K.. Croc... Shuck?" He called out through sniffles. With silence as his answer, he stood, seeing Ma and Pa sleeping in the back, he walked out of the den out into the dark, cold air. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, and then, took off. Sprinting in any direction. Knowing they had to be here, there was no way he could've gotten to them. No way. They were too smart. So in the bitter cold, and darkness, he ran. Starting near the dens, sniffing for any scent of them. He called out for them a few times, yelling their names, not caring who he woke up in the process. He'd find them. He had to. They couldn't be gone- they just couldn't.
Cian ran, and ran, and ran, until his legs were jelly and his throat was raw. He couldn't find any trace of any of them. There were no scents, no trails, nothing- it's like they just disappeared. Before he was sad, he was distraught, now he was angry. If they were gone that only meant one thing.
Sterling.
Cian ended up on the beach, his gaze falling over the crashing waves, he lashed out and swatted the sand. Cursing himself. Tears of angry falling out of his eyes. "If only I woulda stayed near 'em. If I hadn't - if I hadn't been distracted. If I hadn't spent so much time with Sloan- maybe I coulda- maybe they'd still-" He cut himself off with a sob, before catching himself. "NO. No tears, this is your fault Cian, you don' get tah cry over 'em." In his family, they didn't cry. They never cried, they just got angry, they got angry and they got even. He stood there his chest heaving with emotion. He had to find Sterling, he had to find him, and ask him what he did to them.
![[Image: affiliate-animated.gif]](https://ora-obscura.com/images/affiliate-animated.gif)
![[Image: linking.png]](https://ora-obscura.com/images/linking.png)
![[Image: DSXIfNAc_o.png]](https://images2.imgbox.com/11/a0/DSXIfNAc_o.png)
