Ouroboros Spine momentum

They did not merge.

With every blink, the faces grew clearer, until it was her mother and-.

Valiant?

She had last known him to be gone, searching for her niece. She had last known that she had not seen him for some time. How long had he been gone, to look so haggard? How long had she been lying here, draped in a skin of sickness? Vairë searched every inch of her memory, but she couldn’t find an answer.

Slowly, she reached out one of her paws, flexing the toes when they ached, until she could rest her pad against his cheek. Confusion touched her haggard face.

It is you? Actually you? The moon tongue, it flowed from her lips easier than common in that moment. Her head tried to raise, but the muscles in her neck protested vehemently, until she rested her head back on the ground.

I saw the doe. Always the doe. Came the feverish mumble, looking out past her husband to the distant sky. What time was it? What moon?

How long had she been here?