just for the moment

The scents that caught her nose were familiar, beloved. Each passing smell that wafted up her nostrils was like home, and oh how her heart had ached for it! As the matriarch, the girl had been sent ahead, to scout the lands, to find potential, to establish power. The wound on her leg had prevented that, although now it was healing, the infection on its way out. Her fever was still abnormal, but she was better. Upon finding the source, her heart sped up, eyes softening and posture losing its stiffness. Her aunts.

Paws carried her forwards, and she sought to press her head against Phoebe's right shoulder and offering a kiss before moving, hoping to press a similar kiss to Natalya's left cheek. Her lips quirked into a smile, and finally she felt home. At least two members of her family were alive and well, and although the rest remained to be seen, she could deal with knowing that at the very least she wasn't going to be alone anymore. "Aunt Nat, Aunt Phoebe," she greeted affectionately. She'd missed them, after all.