Moonspear Sal din hug og lat den ri og renna.

Towhee knew that Sialuk’s support was why they had come here and that Meerkat and Njord, in turn, had helped her raise a flourishing village. She was glad her daughter had found such a valuable friendship. It was always wonderful, having family—natal and nuclear—nearby but there was something intrinsically important about friends.

That made her think of Hydra again, as well as all the others Towhee had loved and lost over the years. She had really outlived so many, a thought which made her stomach feel heavy. Fortunately, she didn’t get to dwell on it long before she caught Njord’s next round of questions.

Oh, I never lived here before, she corrected, I was just close with Hydra, who ruled here back in the day. She was a force of nature and indisputable queen of the mountain. She was in her prime when the tragedy struck. I don’t really believe in ghosts, though if anyone would come back and haunt this place, it would be her, Towhee finished on a dry chuckle.

They reached a plateau and she signaled for Njord to stop. Towhee wasn’t particularly out of breath, though she was in no rush either. Besides, she wanted to stop and turn around, admire the views for a moment. They really were splendid. Perhaps she’d been missing the heights she’d known throughout her early life, as much as she’d enjoyed the landscapes of the canyon and vale more recently.

Her eyes sought and found the Sunspires in the distance, lingering on the place where she knew Northstar Vale was tucked as Njord’s words replayed in her mind’s eye: “One can heal when ye are around those who ye love an’ trust…” Towhee would certainly find a lot of that here, though she still felt guilty about dragging what was left of her family away from Epoch. She knew they would make the best of it, though she also knew it was inherently selfish.

I know it’s hard to gauge this sort of thing sometimes, with how unpredictable life can be, but do you think this is your ‘forever home’? Or do you think you and Meerkat might one day want a village of your own? Towhee wondered conversationally.