Redhawk Caldera eaglecry

beside the lake one morning, something broke in teya and she knew she could no longer do this.
the blackthorn family grew! dwin traveled, and surely the other kids would be back someday. bronte and ponyboy were the same, but — she had always felt apart. and that was her fault, with no binding tie to the blackthorns except through bronco.
"@Bronte," she asked one night as she and her daughter sat beneath the stars,  "i think i going to leave for a while."
she paused. 
"but also i think i not want to come back."
coolwater eyes found her girl; a soft look followed. "i want take one trip with bridget before i decide. bronte. you come with us? or stay? or — tell me what is in head."
she knew it was a lot to take in, but the caldera hadn't been home to her in a long time, and teya was ready to change that now. she squeezed bronte's paw and gazed out over the lake, imagining.

Side by side with her mother, underneath the stretching night sky, dotted with endless stars, Bronte gazed up in wonder. A deep quiet had settled around them. Weighted with the sense of both unrest and finality. A blonde ear moved to receive her mothers voice. She did not want to stay at Brecheliant. Or come back, if ever. Such a subject being brought up didn't strike her. It had happened, once before.

Still, Bronte let her head and eyes lower towards the ground in deep contemplation. Silent. She understood why Teya wanted to sever all ties from this place. Their immediate inner circle was broken. Boris was out there, lost somewhere. Ponyboy had gone and returned, but she questioned his tether to his home. Bronco would never return, though his spirit carried with her, always.

She wrestled with her words. "I will go with you. Be by your side, always." There was more of the world out there to see. She knew that much. And she couldn't bear the thought of separating completely from Teya. What if something happened to her? She had to be there, so they could look after one another. Her mother had lost so, so much. Bronte would not be her final loss. "What of Ponyboy? Will he come?"

"ponyboy stay with us, i think," teya said, reaching to touch bronte's shoulder. "i hope boris come back. understand why not."
she let out her breath, willing that somehow boris might feel her kiss from the wind and come back, or at very least find happiness where he had learned to be. "think if we leave, i take you and pony back to glintcreek fjord. where i born," the raven explained.
it hurt to talk about this, but more than that, it was relief. freedom. she could leave and brecheliant would not fall apart. there was a moment to be more than what she had, and teya wanted it. "let us take trip to mountains with pony and bridget. decide when you see stars there?"
suddenly eager to leave, her heart longing to say its final goodbyes to both brecheliant and the teekons, teya gazed out over the water. she would go to sapphique alone, she decided, seeking the beloved girl she had failed so many times. and then she would let herself simply be.

"I hope so. I wouldn't want to be away from my brother. Or him from you." She mentioned Boris. Bronte's eyes fell, contemplative and longing. "I miss him. Wonder what could have been. Wished I could have grown closer." Looking back up at her beautiful, strong mother, the intrigue was clear in her face with the name 'glintcreek fjord'.
Teya's birthplace... Bronte was eager to see it, what it was like and possibly make new memories.

"Alright. I am ready to get going when you are. Does Bridget know about any of this?" She paused to ask, not in any big hurry to set things in motion until she was sure everyone was on the same page. It would be hard to leave home. She fell quiet. Looking in the distance, towards a certain, special tree.

"Actually...there is one last thing I wanna do." 

Teya probably could already guess.

she did. "i not tell bridget just yet. tell her after," teya murmured, motioning toward the tree with such a great weariness in her body that she almost wanted to sleep. "we talk about it before. just formal now."
the raven dreaded the things to come next, even more than she didn't want to tell maia and eljay that she was leaving.
"boris strong as you, bronte. needed to see world, like older sister sorana."
her lips twitched, and she glanced toward the tree once more. "let's go, baby. we see him first."

Bronte nodded with understanding. Her mother would talk to Bridget after they were done here. She saw the strain of weariness in her and sympathized. Pressing her forehead affectionately to Teya's shoulder, she walked alongside her to the final resting place of Bronco.

Boris she said was strong. She believed it and hoped he was happy in where his adventures had taken him. If they were lucky, their paths would cross again. 

Suddenly she felt weighted as they drew closer to the tree. But she no longer felt the twisted ache in her heart. The raw sense of loss. Just the long acceptance that she was now so familiar with. Emotion still welled in her. Even though she knew in the truest sense he was no longer there. Maybe in body...but his spirit had moved on.

Tears pricked slightly at her eyes as she leaned to to press her cheek to the cool earth under the tree. "We are so sorry. We tried. But I...I know you are with us always. I feel you guiding us, Daddy..."

bronco. i love you. it's hard to consider leaving. it's harder to be alone. you gave me so much i never got to return. my arms feel so heavy from carrying us around, all the love you couldn't take with you.

i love you. please guide boris home.

the coolwater eyes reached for bronte now, silent.