Noctisardor Bypass And emptiness is all you know.

Her will to survive throughout those dark days had been powerful, and still she wished desperately to live - even without the other half of her family. Ciri, biting back tears as she acknowledged emotion in the thickening of Mahler's voice, swallowed the lump that swelled in her throat as she veered away from the brimming well of her own grief.

A raven ear flicked forward, fleetingly, to catch the break in her father's words. He wished for... what? That he'd been there? That Nyx and Elke had found her? That they'd all returned to him?

The finer details of her parents relationship were largely unknown to her, but Ciri had always firmly believed they'd cared for one another. Not once had she detected strife between them, none that she could recall. She was naturally curious now that she was grown, but it wasn't a conversation she was keen to initiate anytime soon.

A kiss, then, delivered above a vibrant eye, and she leaned into the gesture. When he withdrew she mustered a watery smile; despite the awkwardness of making up for lost time, the young Ostrega was glad to have the chance to do so. "I met Kukutux when I returned and found Moonspear in ruin," she carried on, "she said that you meant to look for us, but you'd been injured." Her eyes briefly roamed over what part of him she could see, and thought he looked well enough. Older, a little more rugged than before, perhaps, but outwardly fine. "What happened? Are you alright now?"