Roll Away Your Stone

It had been far too long since she had seen Amalia Jayne. Nearly a year had passed, as days had turned into painstakingly long seasons. Had it really been so long since she had seen her eldest children? Epiphron had given all of them the freedom to go wherever they pleased, but where Amalia, Quintus, and Cassius had ended up -- she hadn't the faintest clue. Her own journey had led her to Ebony, but quickly she had realized that such a life hadn't been suited for her. Since then she had wandered, distracted by her own failures and regrets, her anger growing with each passing day. She longed terrible to reunite with all of her children; to find her sister and to learn where her adoptive mother and that side of her family had gone.


Her posture was stiff as she moved quickly through the mangrove, little more than a flash of ivory fur through the foliage. Despite the fact that she was in the eastern lands, the air was chilled with the promise of winter's impending arrival. Still her gait held an unshakable air of regality to it, head held high above slender shoulders, her tail curled sharply above her back. The sun had begun to fall in the afternoon sky, casting long shadows down against the mangrove trees. A pack had lived here once, and she knew that the eastern lands were riddled with wolves of Destruction ancestry. Her paws moved gracefully and quietly, having grown adept at remaining unheard in her many months alone. Life of a rogue was far more difficult than that of a Queen and still she was growing accustomed to solitude, something she'd never had much of for the first few years of her life.

The woman's determined thoughts would be broken by the sharp, distinct sound of her daughter's call. It took no more than a split second for her to internalize the sound and know exactly who the sweet voice belonged to. She instantly felt a sharp pang in her chest, a feeling of longing that spread and made her feel both nostalgic and painfully regretful at the same time. For so long she had wondered if Amalia was even alive, and to realize she was so near was startling at best. A soft sigh would escape her throat as her jaw unhinged, surprise painting itself on her pale features as she sought to close the distance between them, turning sharply toward her oldest daughter's call.


Though she was not far, she found her pace slowly slightly as her daughter's scent reached her nose. She hardly knew where to begin with how much had happened. Her left ear flicked gently, now tattered and hardly resembling an ear at all. It was a constant reminder that she had failed in keeping her family together, and that blood was not always thicker than water.


As she approached, peeking around the side of an ancient mangrove tree, she felt her heart drop in her chest. Amalia looked significantly older than she remembered, though she knew that her own appearance had changed. A huff of air left her throat as she watched her, closing the distance between them timidly, as though Amalia might disappear if she got too close. It felt so much like a dream, seeing her after so many seasons had passed, and it would not have surprised her if she'd vanished into thin air now. Perhaps this was just a dream that her tired mind had conjured up -- but she couldn't be sure.


"Amalia..." she started, gentle voiced laced with disbelief. "My daughter..." Epiphron would move more quickly now, moving to slip her muzzle around Amalia's back, pulling her head tight into a firm embrace. She was here, in the flesh, and she whined as she nuzzled into the thick fur of her daughter's neck. "I pray my eyes do not deceive me." The rapid hammering of her heart in her chest continued, creating a dull pounding in her head, overwhelmed by the reunion that she had often thought would never happen. Warily she would pull away, reluctant to stop the embrace she had craved for so many months. "Are you okay? Where have you been?"