She wasn’t left waiting there long before Sirius’ large frame came into view, heading straight towards her. He came in very close, close enough that her instinctual urge was to flinch and coware, but she held still. Her muscles were tense as she fought against her body's reflexive reaction, her breath held as she braced herself for whatever came next. She stared at the ground, waiting until he spoke. The question was simple and expected. She’d spent the last several days preparing to answer that very question, turning it over in her head to try and perfect the wording so she could convey that it hadn’t been intentional for her to leave, without making it sound like an excuse.
She worried now that her being taken again when she’d been given every opportunity to find a new life here would make her look even more pathetic than she already had been, that he would decide she wasn’t worth the trouble. And then there was also the worry that her delay in returning as she helped see to her brother’s recovery would be yet another strike against her. She’d spent so much time thinking about what she’d say, but standing there now, she couldn’t remember a damn word of what she’d intended to say.
She swiped her tongue across her lips, swallowing to try and wet her mouth as she tried to remember how to speak.
"I was captured again, by one of Kyros’ men. I was trying to track prey and I guess… I didn’t realize I’d wandered as far as I had. I swear I didn’t mean to." It had been one of her half brother’s, Enno, who caught her, a son of Kyros, but he’d never been family to her, so she didn’t think that detail mattered. If he asked for more information, of course she would give it to him, but for now she just needed to lay everything out there.
"My brother Mikko was with the man who captured me as well. He was severely injured but after a while we were able to escape together, and shortly after, a woman found us and helped heal him. She said she had family here in Boreas, so I waited with them until my brother was able to travel again, so we could return together. He went with the woman who helped us, but I came back here… To see if there might still be a place for me..." She had wanted to come back sooner, but she had known that leaving Mikko and Shiba behind to come back on her own would have been a stupid call. She had needed the safety that their company brought until she was close enough to make the rest of the trip on her own. She would need to learn to be less dependent on others, but that would take time, and a lot of work that she was more than ready to put her energy towards.
"Speech."
