---> I'm NOT with stupid (vaguely points to hanako)

She wasn't sure who would answer her, although she hoped it wasn't her father or mother. It had been so long... surely some things had changed since she'd last been home, but she knew Azure wouldn't relinquish his hold save devastating natural disaster or divine intervention. When Basilisk showed up in his stead, she wondered which one it had been. For once, Makara was grateful that her glasses fogged up from the change in temperature. He couldn't see her eyes get a bit glassy behind the lenses. She hadn't seen him in years and it stirred something within her now, some still present need to be accepted just as she was. Glasses, booties, allergies, mile-a-minute mouth and all.

Had he taken after Azure in the end, after all? Would he welcome her with the Fatalis name, or strip her of it and turn her out? Or worse, somehow, would he look upon her with their mother's indifference? Makara took a deep breath, as she knew it would take her some time to try and tell her story in a way that made sense but didn't beg any sympathy from him. She wasn't sure if he was the type of wolf to feel sympathy at all. They may as well have been strangers now.

"Hello, Basilisk - so sorry to darken the Armada's doorstep again, I'm sure the years between have been much quieter in my absence. I... I..." she stammered for a second, not quite sure how to continue. The poor joke she made didn't help smooth things out the way she wanted it to. "I didn't run away, or leave - not on purpose. I was out exploring, I'd just found the most interesting artefact deep in some caves - frankly, I can't remember where now, Glowshroom Cavern, maybe, or deep beneath Mount Volkan - when the earth gave out from beneath me. The entire upper cavern system I'd be exploring caved in, and I was trapped down there for what felt like - well, it didn't feel like, it was months. Maybe even a year. I lost track of time, I ate the most disgusting things... fat, slimy grubs. Things that I don't think have ever seen the light of day," she laughed nervously and for too long before wiping the lens of her goggles off on her shoulder. With her lens clear, he might be able to see that tears were starting to form.

"I was so turned around by the time I got above ground again, it took me nearly twice as long to find my way home. I have good reason to believe some of the tunnels I was trapped in might have even crossed beneath oceans. I never... I never meant to leave," she ended softly. Even if I didn't feel like I ever belonged here. It wasn't choice that had separated her for so long, although she didn't want to admit that she'd been back in Boreas for a half season before making her way here. "When the earth began to quake again, and this terrible red sun," she squinted up at the sky, that dim light still coloring the land a sickly red, "I knew I had to come back. I wanted to see..." My home? My family? Would they even have her? Did she want to give up her freedom and become a pack wolf again? "I just needed to see this place again," Makara ended, hanging her head slightly. "Who is still...?" she didn't want to finish the sentence. Who was still living here? Who is still alive? Did she have to fear Azure's arrival shortly?

Speech