Exhausted, on the verge of collapse, but alive. Jael isn't sure how exactly she'd survived this ordeal... they just kept coming. Ordeals of all sorts, a chain of events that started with the disappearance of her sons. Wake had gone after them, and he too, hadn't returned. Her anxiety had only grown, and going after them seemed like the only solution. For weeks, it had seemed like a suicide mission. Even upon finding the lads, getting everyone back was a nearly insurmountable task. Wake's constitution was still lacking, Tide was sickly, and Davey had gotten hurt on the way. Jael was no healer, and had to rely on Wake's instruction alone.

Looking far, far worse for wear, Jael stumbled back to the borders of her home. Wake led the way, if barely, with Tide clutched in his jaws and Davey leaning heavily on him. The injury in his foreleg was splinted from the elbow down, no one entirely sure if it was a break or a sprain. Jael had attempted to insist that he let his older brother carry him, but Davey was too proud. Too high strung. Getting by okay on three legs, as long as the terrain isn't too rough.

Bedraggled, the four return to the Raider's borders. Jael's strength entirely depleted, the adrenaline fading from her system for the last time. She'd gotten them back, all of them, and they were alive. Sending Wake to get Sakana, the woman calls for Modesty. She needs Modesty. Tide crumples into Jael's side, though Davey is still bright eyed and excitable. They look like they've been through hell, well and truly. .

J A E L

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Modesty had been on her way to milk the goats when a phantom wind carried ghostly scents across the moor. Dual toned eyes narrowed as she scanned the flat expanse of the moor, expecting it to just be a trick of the mind. Instead, the bedraggled shapes that limped towards her took form and she dropped her pail, only sparing breath to call for a healer and Gilgamesh to come as fast as they could. The emotions that ripped through her like a whirlwind left her nauseous and dizzy, she skipped a few steps herself as she stumbled towards the small body clutched in Wake's jaws, took in the splint on Davey's leg. She stopped short of sweeping them all up, not trusting herself in this moment. Not after all that had transpired with Ethne, and everything since. She even took a step in retreat, waiting for Gilgamesh to arrive.

She didn't trust her own tongue. Not yet.

"speech"

The urgent call from Modesty ripped Gilgamesh from what he was doing. There was no hesitation in his steps as he raced through the ravine toward the moor where her call had originated from. He had no idea why she was calling, but if she needed him, he would be there. Eyes are a blur, misting with tears from the wind whipping at his face as his paws ate up the ground beneath him. It took only minutes, but what he saw made him feel as if he had taken a lifetime.

On the ground in front of Modesty lay Jael, Tide, and an energetic Davey. Gilgamesh blinks in disbelief as he looks from Jael to Modesty. Confusion and rage begin to bubble up, his fur bristling along his spine. "Who did this to you?" He snarled, teeth clenched tightly as his lips pulled up to reveal fangs.

When Wake returns with Sakana, Gilgamesh turns to the older boys. "Take Tide and Davey away, now." Gilgamesh leaves no room for argument. No room to tell him otherwise. It didn't matter what condition Jael was in. Answers were needed now. Barely about to see through the red, Gilgamesh stares down at Jael. "Jael, tell me what happened," his words are a seething fury as he steps closer to the tiny girl.

"speech"