The Tangle fall in line with me

tags are for visibility, this is for rae! let me know if you are nearby and want a thread; mercy will be making her way to sun mote

Mercy had a burning desire to see the world. She knew that if she didn't, that desire would consume not just her mind but her flesh, too.

She had agonized over the decision to leave. Her family had been through so much, it seemed like there was never a good time. It was stupid. It was selfish.

She thought she had kept the fire tamed but one day, she looked away for just a moment and found her fingers burned. In fearful confession she had spilled her guts to her parents. Her relief was immediate and their encouragement quickly washed away any worries she might have. She had left the wilds brimming with the naïve confidence of a newly minted scout.

She hadn't expected her journey home to take so long. "Come back to visit, Mercy," said Erzulie. Yet half a year was lost to the incident that landed her the scar that — if not for the brilliant cape of red she wore — would define her physique. It started on her right shoulder and trailed down her leg.

She had met @Raelle on the outskirts of Eresta, a sister pack of the one she had once called her own. She shared the news that Vixen's parents were no longer at Sapphique, though she didn't know where they were now. Mercy only knew one thing — that she was going to find them.

She never realized how homesick she was until she set foot in her homeland again. It was here, she recalled, that she had parted ways with her family. @Meerkat and @Njord, those she owed her life to. Her littermates, @Stingray and @Swordfish. Her playmates, @Etienne and @Mireille. Her guidepost, Erzulie.

It had all felt like so long ago. Mercy, they had called her. In the outer wilds she had come to shed that nickname, now answering to Vixen, bestowed to her upon her birth.

She was rarely sentimental, but as she and her traveling companion wove through the tangle, she found herself looking wistfully at the knotted branches. It's — was that a lump in her throat? Umm, it's weird to be back here.