(This takes place as the Jahy Sarlarin is disbanding)

The fall didn't happen all at once. There wasn't one decisive battle and that was it. It wasn't quite a long, slow, and gradual decline, either. A series of miraculously unfortunate events had befallen the Burkuteshti and somewhere in the middle of it all everything had fallen apart. Plague swept through them, seemingly emanating from Baj-jer and quickly moving through the other oases. Had they not been stubborn many would have let it go then. Without the usefulness of the Baj-jer, what were they to do? But plagues passed, most thought, and the war was more pressing. Then they were pushed out of Baj-jer entirely by an unexpected outside force, and. Well. Here we were.

Many had already left. It made sense. What else was for them, here? Still, he waited. He told himself that it was because there wasn't anything else that he wanted. This was his home. This is where he lived, and where he intended to die. Maybe that was partially it. There was also one other glaring factor.

In the chaos of it all, many disappeared. Eagles flew the skies to keep an eye out for lost individuals. At the moment Ashnh was out there somewhere looking for Evren. First it had been days and in the chaos Gaspard hadn't had time to worry. Days turned into weeks and still he waited.

There was still a small population of individuals at the oasis farthest from the Baj-jer, where the two-leggers were least likely to intrude and there was little threat from the Qyrhy. Gaspard walked, his patrol of the area just outside the perimeter slow and careful. The evening light case his shadow long against the sand. He was worried, but he did his best to hide it. Even in these times, when everyone knew the end was near, he couldn't help but remain dutiful to the cause. He remained dutiful even if the cause was a lost one.

The silhouette of an eagle in the sky drew his steps to a halt. Ashnh landed at his feet and stretched his wings before settling in. "It's a hot day," the eagle murmured as if to break the tension. He looked up at Gaspard, brows knit. "Hotter than most. It's rough out there, Gaspard."

The lion remained standing and let out a gruff breath of air. His weight shifted in his paws and his eyes narrowed. The wounds from the battle—the one that seemed like lifetimes ago—had scarred over. Gaspard was thankful to have retained his eyesight (though his vision was admittedly poor in his right eye). He had thankfully avoided being wounded in the confrontation that had occurred with the invading humans.

"Did you find anything out there?" He asked, his voice a low rumble. He had kept the question general and spoke with little emotion conveyed in his voice. Ashnh got the feeling that the question was more specific than the lion let on. There was a pause before the eagle answered with a regretful shake of the head.

It was a hot day, and Evren was disoriented. Many individuals were driven away from Baj-jer and scattered in a panic. Disease had already dwindled their numbers to a pathetic amount that couldn't be recovered from and this invasion was the final blow. In the past few months she had lost her mother. Now she was losing her home.

Evren had moved to the oasis nearest the Baj-jer and stayed there a short while to recover, but the Burkut were being pushed out even farther. It was a long time of wandering between the oases. Now she was headed to the last one, defeated.

Gaspard had been at the Baj-jer during one of the first invasions by the humans. He had gone with a group of wounded out towards a different oasis—one that he was no longer at, Evren had learned the hard way. Evren herself had stayed with individuals who would see how well they could keep their place. Their efforts haven't paid off in the end.

She noted that she hadn't seen Ashnh in a while. Had the eagle himself been the victim of misfortune? Had something happened to him? Had something happened to Gaspard?

The different possibilities had come and gone through the lioness' head multiple times at this point. Countless images of the two of them dead somewhere in the dunes wretched at her mind. Or perhaps they had both seen this inevitability and left. Left without her. Maybe they thought she was dead. Maybe they had just gotten tired of waiting.

Evren shook the thoughts from her head. No. They would never. She would reach the last oasis soon, and she would find out for herself.

Gaspard couldn't put words to his feelings when he saw her form making its way over a dune. Even in the dim light he knew it was her (or perhaps he had just hoped hard enough that he truly believed it was). There were no recognizable thoughts going through his mind as he bolted from where he sat, leaving Ashnh in a flurry of sand.

Equally so, Evren couldn't describe her relief when suddenly Gaspard was at her side. Her legs felt weak and she was leaning against him. Her face was in his mane, feeling his fur and taking in his scent.

"I…" Her voice trailed off and her eyes shut tight. "I didn't know if you were going to be here." She said finally, pulling her head back and looking at him. Gaspard's sage green eyes didn't seem to have the coldness of times past. They looked deep into hers. She felt warm and full.

"Don't be ridiculous," he murmured, low and quiet. "Where else could I possibly be but here, for you?"

Evren let lose a long breath. For a moment it felt as though all of the wrongs of the past months had been righted. She felt once more like nothing in the world could touch her. "I love you," she murmured quietly. And in a voice so soft it was almost lost to the evening breeze, Gaspard repeated the words back to her.

(WC: 1026)