Yes I am posting another Lore Story about Naviri. CW: Family Issues ━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━“Naviri! Naviri get back here!” Naviri could hear his father’s voice call out behind him as he raced out of the precipice of the house where much of his clan lived. His ears were flat against his skull and he was blinking tears ferociously from his eyes, his heartbeat racing, pounding against his ribs as though his heart itself was likewise trying to break out. The cold air of the night hit him like a wave as he stepped from carved stone onto the snow-covered earth. The half-robes covering his body fluttered, pulled and yanked by threads of magic as his vestments seamlessly transmuted themselves into a coat and a scarf slung around his neck and spilling down his back in heavy fabric. It was a tiny bit of comfort against the bitter cold of the night, warmth to surround him in racing moments. “Naviri, please, come back inside.” His father’s stern voice echoed out behind him again. A red glow came over the doorway of the house as the aged Silontaar stepped out onto the porch of the building, his crimson eyes focusing on the pink glow of the younger Silontaar as he raced out into the snow. Naviri’s ears perked up at the sound of Anzya’s voice, but he didn’t stop, just continuing to step out and away from his family and his father. “Naviri. Naviri! For the love of… Naviri please just listen to me-“ ”No. No, I’m tired of just… just listening to you, and you never listening back.” Naviri’s voice broke for the first time in many years as he finally stopped. He turned to look back towards his father in the doorway, his eyes glassy and tear-streaks in his dark fur, invisible were it not for the pink glow emanating from his body. Naviri and Anzya stood at a standoff, Anzya’s hands resting gently on the bannister of the porch, his worn claws held against the creases of the stone; Naviri’s arms were set at his side as he held himself alone and apart. He was no longer a child, and he met his father’s gaze with a longing to finally be heard as an adult. ”Naviri, I understand you’re upset. I tried to push you, and I didn’t see that you weren’t ready, and I’m sorry.“ ”This isn’t about being burned! This isn’t about tonight even! This is about… You. And me. And how you can’t accept the idea that I’m not you.” Anzya was quiet as the words passed through the cold night. The frown on his face deepened even more as Naviri spoke calmly and clearly, his words the same practiced rhetoric and composure that he had spent many years teaching him, even now in the midst of reckoning with emotions he had not ever given voice and presence. Naviri’s burnt hands shook as he felt his chest rising and falling in the motion of breathing, unfamiliar and alien to him. He felt the comforting absence in him warring with the emotions that kindled on his breath, the fracturing and stress that had mounted over years upon years. The skin of his palms was entirely blackened and scorched, his hands torn and stripped of fur entirely by a failed attempt at thaumaturgy. ”I never tried to make you into me, Naviri. I just wished to see you grow into the person I know you can be, because I love you, Naviri.” ”Every day I’ve learned and trained under you I’ve questioned whether I’m capable of anything at all. Because you’ve never once told me anything other than that I can do better. You care just… so much about being proud of the person I can be, have you ever even been proud of the person I am, now?” Naviri’s father closed his eyes softly. Slowly he took in a single deep breath, sighing it out into the empty night, the city quiet for once. All the world held its breath for the two of them to finally meet face-to-face, to let boil over what has been burning silently for a long time. One single flame lit the spark, and finally catalyzed what had been stirring in Naviri for years beneath his father’s tutelage. ”I am proud of you, Naviri. I am proud of you every day. You are my pride and joy, my son. I want to give you the tools for you to truly help others, to grow up and help guide others, because you have a brilliant mind and a charitable heart.” Naviri’s tail finally came to stillness behind him at Anzya’s words. He blinked again, trying to clear his eyes and see the full shape and form of his father all that better through the soft-falling snow. ”Then why did you never say it until now? Why was it never enough that I’m your son? I… can’t keep living up to your expectations. I feel like I’m suffocating just being caught under your shadow… I’m sorry.” Anzya opened his eyes as he looked towards Naviri, seeing his expression break as the tears flowed more freely. Anzya stepped out into the snow, walking on bare feet across the frosted ground, to slowly approach his son and place his hands on his shoulders. He looked down, the strength and sureness in his voice humbled. ”… I’m sorry, Naviri. I never knew. I never meant for you to feel like this, I only want you to know that you’re capable of so many wonderful and amazing things. I wanted you to be able to know that too.” Anzya brought his son into an uneasy hug. But Naviri let himself fall against him, closing his eyes as, despite being so physically close, in that moment they both knew just how far from one another they were. Naviri couldn’t help but let himself feel the roil and turmoil over the man he now hugged, but in the quiet of the night, he finally found the strength to do what he needed to do for himself to survive. ”… I forgive you.” ━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━
