I'm Coming Home

It had been many moons since her paws at touched the lush grasses of the east, feeling the tension start to wane from her body with each step that she took. They were close, she could feel it now. Things were starting to look familiar, enough to bring a touch of a smile to the timid lass's lips. "We're almost there Spirit, we're almost home," whispered Eulogy, turning towards her son who was at her side. Her heart started to pound in her chest, worried that her other children would think that she abandoned them. The mere thought was enough to slow her steps, a whine vibrating in her throat. Would they understand, or would they hate their mother and think she left them on purpose? She hoped that they knew, after her overprotective antics since they had been born, that she wouldn't just simply leave them alone, not without reason. But would they listen to that reason?

Slowly, Eulogy moved towards Serpent Plains, no longer comforted by the land marks of Abaven coming closer. Worry pulled her mocha ears against her skull, hesitation in each step forward. Only Spirit offered her the comfort of moving on, as did her excitement of seeing her children once more. Even if they hated her... she would have to deal with that when it came. She had tried to come back, tried to get to them when the volcano had erupted. Spirit and her had been out hunting for herbs together when the first rumble shook the earth, panic making them both flee. The smoke quickly grew thicker, and in their daze and confusion, they had lost their way home. The uproar had separated her from her brown and white son for a moment, and she spent hours looking for him among the darkness, gasping for breath as worry clamped at her chest like a vice. After they had found one another, safe and... mostly sound, they tended to each others wounds. It took time for them to regain their strength, smoke inhalation making it nearly impossible to travel far. Once they were feeling more like themselves, they headed in the direction that they thought the pack lands were. The thick ash and smoke, let alone the fires that caught the East's thick grasses, changed the landscape of their home, making it that much harder for them to find their way. Nothing looked familiar, and there was no way that they could pick up on the scent of their home. They had no choice but to keep moving, not realizing that they had headed towards Auster. The two of them took months trying to find their way back home, slowly at first as the fear of the unknown made them cautious. They had no idea that Abaven had simply crossed the river to a nearby island, lost in the haze of chaos.

Guilt burned at Eulogy's throat, combined with the seeds of worry and doubt that her family would take them back. She furrowed her brow, turning briefly to Spirit. "Do you think they will understand?" she asked timidly, feeling the true weight of the words as they slipped past her lips. They could turn them away, or worse yet, tell her that some of her pups perished in the fires. It was enough to bring her to a complete halt, standing mere feet away from the Abaven border. The scent markers of their pack didn't reach the female, too overwhelmed by the emotions that claimed her. Before, her main concern was getting them home, trying to focus on that so that the doubt wouldn't settle. But here, now so close, it paralyzed her. They had been gone a long time, she had missed her babies growing up... The bitter sting of tears pricked at her deep blue eyes, searching her son's face for comfort. It was an unfair position to put on the young man, expecting him to help her move, but they had been the only support system for each other after the split. Eulogy couldn't move another inch, tears now flowing down her dark brown muzzle. What if they didn't understand? What if they hated her? The same thoughts echoed over and over again in her mind, crippling the previous joy she had felt only moments ago. This interaction at the border could either crush her completely, or finally settle the anxieties that had been a dark cloud over the last few seasons.

OOC;; Please give Nyx a chance to reply with Spirit before joining the thread! Will then open up to the rest of the family and Theory. <3