Firefly Glen I'm sorry if I hurt you, I'm sorry if it got that bad

Despite her own words of reassurance and the medicine which Kukutux offered Toad, the paw Meerkat held between hers went limp. Toad's entire body suddenly relaxed, slumping to the ground. At first, the Delta thought the medic had given her something to put her to sleep, to escape the pain. She held onto this naive belief for all of thirty seconds before she realized her friend was no longer breathing, that her body was in fact that: a body. Toad Amelia's soul was gone.

Meerkat did not let go, even when the others left Toad's side to triage the others who could still be saved. She heard Hydra's gentle command and nodded to acknowledge it, though she didn't look at Moonspear's queen, nor did she make any move to immediately obey. Instead, her attention remained fixed on Toad, specifically her face, torn apart by the bear. Looking past the violent horror of it, Meerkat squeezed Toad's lifeless paw one last time, then slipped hers free. She used it to gently close her friend's glassy eyes, then leaned in to breathe in her scent. She placed a soft lick between Toad's ears, tears already streaming down her face to dampen her brown fur.

At last, Meerkat wrenched herself away. Her legs felt like jelly as she stood, finding it almost impossible to turn her back on Toad and leave her there. But she looked around at the chaos, then recollected Hydra's words. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to run into the arms of her family at the caldera, not just to warn them but simply to be with them. Trusting that her comrades here would deal with the threat as well as her aunt's remains, Meerkat bent her teary head into the winter wind and fled south.