old habits die hard

It'd been a long while since Thalia had seen either of her brothers. Dion had been gone even longer than Saren, but she thought of them frequently, despite the way each of their departures had impacted her. She'd been closer to Dion as a child, but as she'd gotten older she'd grown to realize she had more in common with Saren than she originally thought. His disappearance had stung, but in some ways she thought she'd prepared herself for it - first her other brother, and then her siblings, and then the rest of her family that had left after the volcano's eruption.

She'd grown used to being alone. Not in the grand scheme of things - she had Aerie, and some of her family left here - but in a more... day-to-day way. While she had once been content to stay close to her family, now she'd grown used to spending most of her time on her own. While it wasn't exactly preferable, she'd grown used to the solitude of her daily existence.

That was why coming across Saren's scent alarmed her, at least initially. She was nearing the borders of their lake territory when a light breeze whisked over the lake and carried his scent straight forward her. Thalia wasn't quite sure how she felt at first. He was back - but why? Visible curiosity touched her features as she slowly meandered toward where his scent had come from. but it had mostly faded by the time he came into view, replaced by a largely unreadable neutral expression. "Saren," she greeted him finally, once he was within earshot. "What brings you here?" She wasn't interested in rekindling a bond between them if he planned to leave again, and the way she spoke to him - guarded and wary - made that apparent.