It was such a simple mistake.
It was actually difficult to believe that after all his years as a herd leader, he could still make the most basic error, and have to reap the most disastrous consequences of it. Then again, he supposed it had been a very long time since he or his beloved Star had had reason to venture so far out of the heartlands, and it had quickly become clear that he did not have as much energy for his children as he once had. Rui and Seto were rambunctious, but mindful of their father- Nanaki found himself hoping that this would instill a sense of urgency in how important it was to take the winding paths he had shown them back into the heartlands, rather than a straight route; a deterrent for any pursuers, or at least a stopgap measure.
Perhaps he was becoming complacent in his old age. After all, this was a habit he had instilled in his daughters, in Cetra and Rubedo with great emphasis on its importance, stressing that the livelihood of their family was at stake- a lesson that all of them had taken to heart. Now, on a path he had taken a hundred times, not once had he ever forgotten that lesson himself... until now.
Whether the skinwalker had stumbled upon them out of sheer luck or been tracking them for miles beyond the river was unclear, but it now blocked their path back to the herd in a snarling, bristling mass of fur and teeth and claws. A purewalker- one of the most dangerous of them all, and Nanaki had two children to protect and no backup. Golden eyes darted from the skinwalker to the path behind it, to his young son and daughter standing firmly at his haunches. His ears twitched, straining to hear even the faintest of voices from the group of Soquili he knew must be close by- but to his disappointment, he heard nothing. Rubedo would, at the very least, have to be patrolling this area, but Nanaki had no way of knowing how far along the borders he was at this current moment.
Shifting his weight to stand more firmly before the snarling beast, the firey stallion lowered his head, cool gaze locked on his enemy as he spoke quietly to his son.
"Seto," he murmured, taking great effort to make no sudden moves, no loud noises that could instigate a charge- he had no way of knowing if it would help, but common sense prevailed in the most basic fashions, it seemed. "I need you to listen to me carefully." Here, his gaze left the skinwalker for a brief moment to lock on the pleading eyes of his youngest son. "Take your sister and run. Make for the hills behind us- do not head towards home. I will find you when it's safe. Do you understand?"
This was a great deal to ask of a child, and Nanaki knew the burden was unfair, but there was little to be done for it. Their safety and the herd's safety were at stake, and he knew that his children understood this responsibility and their part in it. "Protect your sister." His eyes left Seto's to look upon Rui's tearful blues, then up to meet the glare of the still-immobile skinwalker, but his tail brushed lightly against his child's hooves in gentle encouragement, carefully avoiding the burning flame. "Don't look back."
