He nodded, before trotting forward. "You know, it must be pretty different moving here from somewhere else," he chuckled, "it took me a while to get used to living here back in the day, the lights were a big one but the noise? Now that was a killer...though the parties were definitely a lot more interesting than living out in the wilds."

He shook his head. "No, your mother and I came from the north," he spoke, his expression clouding with something unreadable, "that's how we came across the barn where she met your father I suppose. We never intended to stay long but here we are."

He nodded. "For a while," he confirmed, "but...to be honest, I didn't know she had kits back then...we were kind of having a spat at the time so I guess I never noticed, and to be honest, your father and I...let's say we didn't exactly get along." He had always thought Harley a creep trying to hit on his sister when she was still young. "You would've been too little to remember when we left, I suppose."

He could see Kate's judgmental look. "Trust me, I was just looking out for my sister; if some random cat comes around and runs off with your sibling to gods' know where, you'd be worried too," a chuckle left his mouth, though there was a tenseness by his eyes that belied the slight seriousness in his words.

"What's wrong?" he asked, peering at Kate, "you know, you seem like you have a lot of thoughts you keep to yourself. You can always share them with me if you want to."

Hywel shrugged. "Well, yeah sort of I guess, we only had each other growing up if I'm honest," he replied, more somber and quiet now, "when we left the north she was just a kit, so I was really the one who raised her. Things are...different now that we're here but...yeah, we used to be close."

Hywel could sympathize. He had spent so long missing his own, that he could barely remember his own mother's face. She had been gone a year into his life, when Rhiannon had been born; he couldn't remember much about his home. The memory of the hatred in his father's eyes was all that clouded his memory of the loch these days.

"Your mother will come around one day," he spoke gently, more a hope than any true statement, "and I don't have a lot of memories of my mother either, but she always told me that you eventually find what you look for as long as you have the determination to go through with it, and you get a little luck from the gods." He gave her a small smile. "Sometimes...blood is complicated, parents don't often turn out to be what you want them to be, but don't for a second believe that you don't deserve to be cared for, Kate."

Rhiannon might not have a heart for her kits, but Hywel always left a space in his for the two of them.

(can do!)

Hywel had found himself in the most peculiar place once more, and more confused about his own life than ever. He had lost the love of his life only to find him once more, and yet...part of him couldn't believe that things could be like that. He couldn't believe that things would be so simple, that things could actually work out to his own benefit. Alas, he found himself mulling over his own choices when he spotted the familiar tortoiseshell pelt nearby. Ah, his niece.

"Kate!" he greeted from afar, not quite noticing the mood she was in.