nothing left to lose

Epiphron was.. tired. She struggled to find any other adjectives to describe how she felt. She thought as she approached the end she might feel more -- some kind of brilliant clarity, like light breaking through the clouds, illuminating things she had yet to understand so far in her life. Or even some kind of otherworldly sense of gratitude and forgiveness, letting go of whatever pain she'd held on to thus far in her life, and forgiving those that had caused her that pain.

But she merely felt tired. Epiphron felt no different at all than she had for some time, despite her realization that this journey was as much a metaphorical one for her as it was an actual one. This was the end - she knew it as soon as her pace slowed. Perhaps not this very minute, or perhaps not even tonight, but she knew from somewhere deep in her bones that she likely wouldn't see another sunset as lovely as this one, if she saw another at all.

The trip to this familiar area had taken more out of her than she anticipated, and by the time she moved across the invisible border of the terrain her limbs were quivering from fatigue. It was soothed by the familiarity of these lands, the scents comforting and wrapping around her like a warm blanket. She shuddered, though it was not from cold - the temperature had been warm for most of her trip here, though now that the sun had started to set it had lowered a bit. Her sapphire eyes fixed on the skyline as she walked across the stretch of abandoned farmland, marveling at how the setting sun cast a brilliant palette of colors across the sky.

She wandered around the Range for a long while, traipsing through the stretch of meadow that separated the woodlands, navigating around the old storage shed and even spending a moment at the stretch of graves that had been dug here so long ago. This was her home - as much as the mangrove forest had grown to be, and as much as Vericona Plains had once been, too. This place simply held.. more. More memories. Her children had been born here; she had fallen deeply in love here.

A wistful sigh fell from her lips as she started toward the red barn at the northern edge of the territory. By now the sun had descended completely, and overhead the sky was crisp and dark, dappled with millions of brilliant white stars overhead. Briefly she tilted her head up to watch them, feeling her breath hitch slightly in her throat - she'd expended a lot of effort exploring this place again, perhaps more than she should have, and once again fatigue washed over her, like a wave would wash over the shoreline. Another shudder took hold of her, and she slowed her pace as she started toward the barn. Before she entered it, on a whim, she tilted her head toward the sky and let loose a low, mournful call. If she didn't make it back to Fiori - and she knew deep in her heart she might not - she hoped at least someone could tell her family where she'd gone so they wouldn't worry for her.