He had been thrilled to find out that his daughter had returned from her misadventures. He was surprised though to find that she had taken after him and joined up on a ship. He almost could have seen Tyrone setting off on such adventures but Skylar had been so quiet and shy. He smiled to himself at the thought as he walked along the shoreline of their packlands. He hoped soon that her sibling would return to them both but he knew he was lucky enough to have one for now. It was a cheery spot in the middle of all the depressing notes in his life of recently.
He picked up a small shell and tossed it into the waves that were raging against the shore. The soft plop of the violet shard was barely heard as the shell disappeared below the surface. He shook his head and wondered if his daughter had settled in yet. He wasn't going to push himself onto her, she was a grown woman now.. but she'd been gone so long and there was so much he had to learn from her. He chuckled to himself, having forgotten just what it was like having the two around, before everything had gone downhill.
DaVinci had heard the steps of his approaching daughter but he never turned to look to her, the girl's scent giving fair warning of who it was. When she bumped into him he turned and smiled to the younger girl. He had never thought that he could be a father but here he was now and he seemed to have done a fine job at it. He screwed up at most things, it was only fair he win every once in a while. His stormy orbs looked over his child as she was forced to look up to him. He grinned and admitted. "I thought you would have come back a head taller than me.." She had his blood though and it seemed the blood of his father ran stronger than Iskata's for both his children had come out with the same slim sleek frame he had and those classic oversized ears.
He shook his head at the idea, there was nothing good his father had given him, the man didn't even deserve the title. He was glad that Laruku had killed the bastard when he did.. he'd never had a chance to tell him that, he wondered if the old alpha of Clouded Tears was even around anymore. He hadn't even seen his daughter for some time.. but such was the fate of that pack, to drift in and out of life forever it seemed. How they'd managed to avoid it he wasn't for certain. He was here now though and here he was going to stay as long as he was physically able.
He glanced away from Skylar as she asked if they could talk. "Yeah?" He fiddled with another shell between his fingers as he turned back to her. "What's first?" He really wasn't looking forward to this all, he thought if he'd prolonged it it would have given him the time he'd need but it never did, he'd just pushed it to the back of his mind like so many other things. Now he was stuck in a cycle that wasn't going to end pretty.
The kids had been away so long that DaVinci didn't really know where to start with them. Skylar was older, she wasn't his baby girl anymore and he wasn't for certain he wanted to know just how much of this great big world she'd seen and what had caused such a complete turnaround in her once shy and quiet personality. He glanced over as she fired one of those questions at him that he knew would come. He braced his shoulders as he skipped another shell into the sea. "She's.. dead." He clinched his jaw tightly as he tried to keep from showing any emotion. They weren't certain how she had died or if she really was yet but he knew he'd sent her to her death with those angry words and he didn't even want to think of it.
His shoulders drooped as he pushed the thoughts aside as Skylar spoke of her travels, asking if he wanted to know more. He hesitated but asked instead. "If.. you don't ask me what happened to your grandmother. Ask Jefferson.. please." He didn't know if he'd ever really be able to talk about her now that she was gone but he wasn't ready yet, that much he did know. It might seem silly but it was just his way of dealing and healing.. by letting it rest.
DaVinci hadn't expected his daughter to react the way she did, he'd known that it would upset her when he told her the news and he knew that he could have been a little less harsh when he'd thrown the news at her but it was too late to change that now. He dropped the small collection of shells to the ground as he watched her close her eyes. He sighed softly and opened his maw to apologize when all of a sudden Skylar had moved forward to meet him.
When her arms had wrapped around him and she rested her head on his shoulder he seemed to stiffen for a moment before suddenly relaxing and burying his muzzle into his young daughter's mane. He closed his eyes as she apologized for not being there. He just shook his head as he whispered. "I'm sorry she's not here.." He just wished everything had turned out so differently but he knew that there was nothing let but tomorrow and Iskata wasn't part of the future.
