Nova Peak As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost.

Departure thread to conclude my time in Sagtannet! I'll leave this up for a few days should @Elke, Ciri & @Mahler, feel up to making a post here.   :)

She'd barely slept. Although Nyx had yearned for easy slumber to better fuel the first leg of her family's journey to Moonspear, it did not come easily for the lioness. Instead she dozed spottily on her last night at the rendezvous, plagued by anxiety and deep sorrow for the culmination of events that'd led to her decision.

As a new sun began to crest above the distant horizon, Nyx turned her tawny crown to squint her vibrant gaze toward its light. She had not objected to Mahler's insistence in escorting them and had agreed to meet him on the Western foothills. Soon, when the cubs had woken and readied themselves to be on the move, the Ostregas would descend from Sagtannet's spire for a final time to bid farewell to their sorry existence there.

She turned then, to regard her offspring with a softening of her brow. Her gaze lingered first on Elke, her sweet and innocent snowflower, and felt a spear of emotion in her chest. It was she who did not welcome the choice her dam made as readily as her littermate, likely could not understand it beyond one parent removing their family from its patriarch. A muscle tensed in her jaw as she shifted her stare, let it rest softly on her little blackbird, and let her serve as the optimism she required. Ciri deserved more than this miserable life in Sagtannet, where Nyx' feared her feelings of rejection would continue to grow.

Nyx could only hope that Moonspear would welcome them with arms wide open.

She looked forward to seeing Dirge again, to having an opportunity to lean on him for the support she desperately needed. He'd always been able to provide the silent, solid pillar of strength that Nyx required, even when she'd let him down.

Carefully, the lioness roused her pups with peppered kisses and soft murmurings, and encouraged them to follow along the mountain path she'd worn for them. She greeted Mahler briefly and with a sad little smile, void of its usual warmth for him, before she carried on ahead in silence to allow a father to share some precious time with his daughters before a whole world could separate them.