The idea of ever going back had begun to fade from the girl's mind. Ever since her expedition to search for flowers she had understood that the new ruled over the old. Days, weeks rather, had passed since they had arrived at the Glacier, and whether she liked it or not, this new place was home now.

There would be no more Bazi,no more mud-baths, and apparently no more afternoon explorations.
This was their reality now. And though Maera didn't really have a problem with the new place itself she wanted to know what was wrong with the place they had left behind. Because, there must've been something damaged there right? If not why did they seek this shiny brand new place if there wasn't anything wrong with the Creek?

When something was wrong, broken or bad, it was only natural to search for something better. So, what made this place better? So far she had not found anything spectacular about this place --in fact,if it were not for her magnificent dicovery, the Glacier as a whole would be dammed in her mind.

With the questions burning her alive, she slipped past the den's entrance like she had done so frequently over the past few days. Once outside she took a moment to look at her surroundings, she was not yet used to the imposing figures of the mountains that craddled them in, like a protecting belt around their home. Protection from what?, she didn't know. The scariest thing she had ever encountered was a shiny green beetle that threatened to eat her nose, and a thousand of red dots that set her fingers of fire; and though the peaks of the Glacier stood strong they had not managed to hold back the greatest danger of all. The monster that had taken her brother was still on the loose.

Even if Maera was no longer oblivious to the dangers outside, the thought of crosssing paths with the creatures that lurked in the shadows and those who soared through the clouds was inexistent in her innocent heart.
She missed Larus.
How could she not? He was her unconditional plush toy, the one that wiped away her tears when the nightmares struck. Now it was her turn to wipe his tears, wherever he was. With her mind set and her belly craving his touch, she began her little quest for answers with complete confidence that no harm would ever touch her.

Today she would get a taste of what was wrong with this place.

With her meatball nose hovering over the ground and her tail whipping from side to side, Maera took off running like a hound that followed a trail. She had not idea where she would end up and honestly she did not care. Today she would expand her horizons, she would dive into uncharted lands of her map without even a compass in her hand.
That was how Sveijarn's were.

They didn't need directions, they were born with an leading arrow in their heart that came with no instruction manual but somehow always managed to point the right way. Except for Daddy. He should've come back by now -- with Larus obviously. Maybe he had gotten side tracked along the journey.
Maybe he had stopped to pick flowers to bring back for her.
Yeah, that was it.

Foolishly blinded by her innocence, Maera continued to trot along, her nose picking through every bush and rock in hopes to find her brother's paarticular fragance, But of course there was no luck. The smallest child's scent was far gone -- just like the light in her mother's eyes.

She had pretended not to have noticed but the dark circles weighing under her eyelids were impossible to miss. They messed with her mother's fiery complexion, making her for once look frail and vulnerable. It was scary and painful for the babe's heart to see that her own hero was now crying out for help.

That was one of the many things that had fueled her desire to end with the mystery once and for all. No one else would be taken from her family, loosing Daddy and Larus had been the last straw.
She'd get them back or she'd join them trying.

Life itself was a fantasy for Maera, not one where the hero always rose in triumph or where the picture perfect family stayed together -- it was missing the happy ending she longed for. But she still held the hope that it would arrive in time. It would come back, along with Larus and Daddy and the fairies her current vigilator had told her about not more that two weeks before.

Suddenly the girl's fuel ran out -- her legs wouldn't carry her any step further and her heart had gotten too heavy to lift alone. With a loud thump, the girl allowed her rear to fall onto the floor. Her hazel eyes traced the outlines of her toes, carefully jumping from one to another as her lungs expelled jagged breaths off her tiny body. She was still unaware she was being watched. If she had known perhaps she would've fallen to the ground much sooner, coiling up into the dirt knowing that Danica would come and provide the gentle touch she was so desperately seeking.

But she was alone -- as far as she knew.
So there was no use in letting out tears when there was no one to wipe them off her cheeks.

Her stubby toes didn't bring the comfort she was seeking so she closed her eyes and simply sat there. Motionless like a statue that would forever be caught under the paining gloom of loneliness. A sniffle broke the deafening silence, just moments before the blonde female approached to be her saviour again -- this time not from fire ants but from the imminent threat of a broken heart.

The sound of her voice cut through the silence making the little girl jump in surprise and jerk her head to meet her. Then like a trigger had been pulled inside her eyes, the tears began to flow accompanied with sniffled and choked sobs. Crying with someone to hold you was somehow more comforting that spilling your tears alone.

She nodded slowly and watched the female through the tears, waiting to hear why the fairies were relevant now, when everything else had begun to lose meaning around her.

Danica's idea wasn't bad; it made the girl blink up at her with silent awe. Would the fairies listen to plea? Would they be moved by her sad prayer and take compassion of her; even if she had thought about eating them the first time she heard of them?
Truthfully, she didn't know, but she could hope.

With her little snout pointing to the sky, the fire-kissed girl allowed a pained lament to slip past her lips, "Faires, tell me where they are." she began, "Take me with them, with lawus and the cat" she whined, remebering the traumatic scene in her head, "and with daddy and the flowers" she finished, wishing with every fiber of her body to get the answers she seeked.
Even through death.

An unbreakable silence fell upon the child for the next minutes, along with her plea her whole heart had escaped into the atmosphere. It was floating above the trees and weaving between the fairy-filled leaves of red that still hung to the trees and fading into the clouds above. During this time of reflection, Maera allowed her tiny frame to sink into Danica's arms.

The woman whispered some last words of comfort into her ear before the young Sveijarn finally allowed tears to roll down her cheek, drenching the adult's chest as she was buried against her. "T-thank you" she mumbled, pushing her muzzle deeper into Danica's craddling arms.