Hideaway Strath If I look back, I am lost.

As she stood there, waiting for the sting to subside, her eyes adjusted to the dark. Everything was still pretty unfamiliar but at least she could see. She patently did not see Phox coming and jumped, startled, at his touch. A queer noise escaped her, something between a hiss and a growl. Her lips skinned back from her teeth. But the instant she realized it was only her brother, she calmed.

He pressed closer and Towhee leaned back, drawing a small measure of comfort from his solid warmth. In some moments of grief, she did blame him for her current strife, though any time she was tempted to think in that vein, she reminded herself that she was a grown adult who'd made her own choice. Phox hadn't held a gun to her head and forced her to come here with him. It would be an absolute lie to say she didn't regret it now and then, though she always looked to Fig and Fen in her most struggling moments and thought, Worth it.

They weren't here right now, though, and Towhee felt all the negativity welling up inside her despite her brother's presence. She felt stupid and weak as she began to cry, loudly enough that it may very well bring the kids running to see what noisy monster haunted their new home.