Moonspear o frabjous day! callooh! callay!

Back on her own again, it took Sugar a day or two to pinpoint this overwhelming feeling weighing in her gut: she was homesick. She didn't want to abandon her mission, yet at the same time, she craved a place to return to and rest her head when she grew weary of the road. It had also occurred to her that she might benefit from someplace permanent to build up a medical cache. She could carry some items with her on the road, yet it would be best to put the rest in storage.

But where was home, these days? There was Triquetra, where she had spent several months coming back from the brink of death. Maybe for that reason, it didn't feel like home. She would go there, to visit Tegan, Bat and the pups, as well as to deliver the bad news. Yet she knew she didn't want to stay there, much as she'd come to love her older brother and his family.

That really only left the Firebirds, yet any time Sugar thought of the copse, it put a lump in her throat and she found it difficult to breathe. She had come to terms with her parents' deaths now but still had a lot of emotional processing left to do. She could barely stand the idea of visiting right now, much less staying there. Perhaps she would change her mind one day, though Sugar doubted it. There were still some lovely people living there, of course, but the ones who had primarily made it home were dead and gone. Too many bittersweet memories resided there now.

Maybe, she thought, she should turn back and join Raleska at Rusalka. She had grown fond of little "Elwood," as well as his sister and their mother. The wolves there hadn't seemed so bad, despite the Empress's words. The thought stirred up some more turmoil in her chest and Sugar sighed, still plodding away from the coastline. Whether or not she eventually decided to establish a home base, right now she still had a mission to complete.

She had never been here before, yet she knew the peak from a distance and the scents of wolves confirmed she had reached the right destination. Sugar stayed well back from the borders, peering up at the formidable "spear," catching her breath. She forcibly pushed down all of her inner turmoil and focused instead on her task. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of this Praimfaya but Sugar had promised she would check in with @Opalia regardless. Maybe she would have good news about Fennec and Penn. The yearling tipped her snout skyward and called for the tawny she-wolf.

Title from "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.