He'd been expecting them sometime around then, as the year pulled to its slow finish and winter began to blossom with full force. Snow had already fallen, but small spurts of rain throughout the week was already waning down what ice and snow was on the ground. There was little he could do about it; Jefferson cared little for the weather, though he preferred a gray, plain overcast to rain. This was, of course, because rain brought an ache to the joints and bones of his bad leg. Moving on it was miserable, but with his luck, it was no surprise that the howl of his expected visitors fell on the day when he could barely place the tips of his claws to the ground without a shooting pain jolting through the entire limb.
He could have shifted to his two-legged form where the pained joints could rest in the makeshift sling across his chest, but the Patriarch had asked Jantus that his visitors arrive in their less intimidating, four-legged forms. It was only fair that the Patriarch do the same. He'd watched the rain a while, but gritted his teeth and pushed himself up onto his three legs and hobbled desperately through the ranch's front door and in the direction of the howl. On his pained leg, Jefferson took his time; the howl had been purposely far off, giving the Patriarch time to dawdle if needed. As he moved along, countless raindrops falling inconveniently and provokingly square in his eye, the cyclops pondered why he had not asked Geneva or Tyrone along just to be safe. He supposed, in the end, it was because he was still the independent creature he was in the beginning. If something was to be taken care of, it was better he just do alone. Besides, if Jantus and his pack of buddies were plotting something, it was better Jefferson be the one to be taken down rather than risk the olive-eyed goddess and his former apprentice at the same time. Now that Iskata was gone, those two were the only ones he still held close to his chest.
He stood tall in the rain at Phoenix Valley's edge, green eye staring into the mess and mist of the downpour. Undaunted, he waited. He had a funeral to attend, or so it seemed.