Back to civilization

[Elias Donovan]

Elias silently watched the mother-son pair. Irina was fully as opposite as a woman could be from his own mother. He had thought of her, and the rest of his family, multiple times over the past week of hiking. It was family after all that sent him to the other side of the world, or at least they were the excuse for his living in New Zealand. With solitude came contemplation. Irina's doting over Jaxen conjured memories of his own mother. He'd been away from Kenab long enough to know he'd never go back even should the mystery of his uncle's death be solved. He would physically be crushed by the terrain, and any mental endurance he possessed would erode until snapping and blindly destroy entire towns in the blink of an eye. Best for everyone to stay out of Kenab, although so far, Moscow was not proving to be much better. The old ailments crept along the cage of his chest, squeezing like asthma even in the dead of winter. Breathing was a conscious effort some days.

Out of curiosity, cold and boredom he agreed to go inside. Bag slung on his shoulder, he glanced down at Sierra as he joined her side. "Feeling inadequate right about now?"
He asked her with a dry smirk. Besides, he was interested in meeting the person who could possibly make Jaxen pale in fear. Not to mention seeing life on the other side of the tracks.