The remaining child of the quartet layed stretched on the deserted den's floor. She always returned to sleep, finding comfort on the very walls that once held her home -before it burned down to ruins; she found a strange calmness in them, the faint scent of those gone still lingered around the stuffy air inside, clinging on the walls and hanging from the ceiling.

Even if she knew that one day the scent would be gone, she still returned, never burying the possibility that one of the dark afternoons she returned from her little expeditions they'd be all there. Waiting with smiles on their faces and light in their eyes.

It was a hollow daydream that faded from the child's mind as she poked her head into the empty den every day. The day found them all was still far away --or non-existent -- but the day she found one of them was closer than she thought.
Maybe she just had to pick up the little piece before trying to grab it all.

Minutes filled with silence rolled by before the child even realized one of the fragrances impregnated on the walls got stronger. She remained on the floor, coiled up with her legs tucked underneath her chest to fight the imminent cold that would soon cover the Teekong Wilds. Though she this would be the girl's first winter, she could already feel the icyness crawl its way inside her bones, and she knew in the back of her mind it would only get colder with no one to cuddle with.

The little lighting that entered the den was soon interrupted by a boulder-like shape that casted strange shadows on the floor. With a drowsy yawn she lifted her head, and narrowed her eyes at the odd patterns that danced across the floor. She thought that the night was arriving early and that it was playing tricks on her little mind, but as soon as the so familiar silhouette of her father broke through the entrance she jerked herself off the ground; her body shaking as she tried to make herself believe this time it was not only a twisted dream.

"D-Daddy?" she called out, her voice shattering as she craned her neck to get a better view of his father in the darkness of the den.

While her eyes were still adjusting to the change in lighting there was not a doubt in her heart that she was witnessing a miracle. With her knees still shaking uncontrollably she made an effort to take a step forward only to fall onto his feet as he once again craddled her in his love. Though she had never liked kisses, she did not protest to her father's affectionate greeting, she knew that he had never been a touchy man either, so instead of questioning the moment she just sunk into his chest, feeling the warmth of his wrap around her limbs.

She didn't know how many days had gone by since she had last seen his face, and now she didn't care. All that mattered was that he was back again, clutching her frail, shivering body and piecing her broken pieces together once more.

The vibrations that rumbled from his chest as he spoke made the child remember what he had set out to do the day he had left home. He had gone for Larus, and for the flowers.

Maera's face pulled away from their embrace as her eyes sought his own, a curious yet fearful expression caught in her eyes. He had returned alone. Which in the girl's mind meant that Larus had not yet been found -- which implied that the search was not over. Was he going to shoot out the door as soon as her eyes closed again?

Over the few months they had actually spent together Maera had been able to notice Njal was a head-strong, determined man. Just because he had shown up now didn't mean he couldn't leave again.

He was devoted to the roses*
He would not leave her here to wither, but he could not let the rest of his out to dry.

"You were scared too, Daddy. It's alright" she murmured, pressing her nose into his arm. She knew he had had to be terrified when going after the monster and coming back to an empty house -- she had certainly been too when she had realized they had all disappeared.
Like the flowers she had serched for in the Glacier, they had all vanished into weak memories.

[size=x-small]*metaphor for the children[/size]

Each of the kisses planted in the crown of her head sent little ripples down her spine, warming her stomach and covering her frail body in a mantle of hope. Hope that would make her be whole again. For the briefest second,child's mind submerged into a state of complete peace she had never had been able to achieve before. As if she were in a capsule that isolated her from the broken world that had turned to her reality. Inside her father's arms she was able to feel that everything would be fine in time.

However, the rush of hope inside her chest was short-lived.
The heavy sense of emptyness lingering inside the very walls of the den was too strong to be ignored. Even if they had wanted to freeze time and melt into each other for a whole afternoon, the abscence of her siblings and mother was impossible to miss.

A quiet whimper escaped the child's throat as her father finally uttered the words she had been waiting so long to hear -- a promise that would once again make her wake up in the morning with a purpose other than collect pieces of broken things to hoard inside her log. She pushed her nose again into his chest, smearing a layer of tears over his silver coating.

"I don't want a little while" she croaked while still rubbing her face over him, she might've not been as expressive as she should've before, but she wouldn't make the same mistake now.
No.
She could not let him walk out that door again without the certainty he would return.
"I want every day, Daddy" she whined, while jerking her head away from his to look into his pale grey eyes.

Though she had removed herself from their warm embrace, she still had her heart linked to his. Her unwavering hazel stare seeked to fish out answers out of his chest, he was a quiet man by nature and the nature of their current situation had made her guard her heart away from the harm around her. She did not want to wake up to an empty den again, she did not want the sound of thunder to be her only company through the cold stormy nights. She wanted to hold hi, and to be held by him.

Finally, his lips pronounced the words she had been waiting so long to hear. A wave of relief flushed onto her back, stricking her with such force that made her knees shaka a little. Though the intense light shinning over both of their eyes was enough to assure the little child he would not go again, she was glad he fleshed such thoughts into words.

With her little tail still squirming in the air like a worm, she broke the small distance she had placed between them just a few seconds before, again melting into the safety of his arms. It was only then that the little Sveijarn was able to free her mind of the worries that had arrived just after her father's departure.
Even if there were still four more of her family members still out there in the cold, she felt at peace.
Now she could finally rest.
They'd be devoted to the roses together now.
"Speech"