Noctisardor Bypass no one fights for me

the morning is humid; the heat curling the longer tendrils of fur along her nape. with her wounds from the lynx healed, and the coalition tended to, heda returns to rivenwood and the children she has abandoned. though, she is not sure it is to be a mother. she returns ...but only because she feels duty-bound to @Mahler. she owes it to him; of whom she sends up a howl for. her children are better off without her — this she knows. this she feels in the marrow of her bones.

what happens now ...the past commanders have nothing to say. whether she is accepted back to rivenwood, whether its even a good idea is another matter entirely. either way, at the very least, she is here to see mahler and deal with the consequences — whatever they may be.

Sequoia knew that voice. And when she heard it, a sense of relief washed through her. Praimfaya was okay! Well, alive, at least. Sequoia told the children to stay put at the rendezvous site and took off toward the howl. She wanted the other mother to know that her children were safe and sound. Praimfaya had not been forgotten. Everything was going to be alright.

When she spotted the other Rivenwolf, Sequoia slowed, wincing at the scars her fellow mother now wore. The cat had gotten her good.

Thank fuck you’re okay. Your kids are okay, too. I’ve been keeping them out of trouble… mostly. That cat really did a number on you, didn’t it? Sequoia didn’t know what plans Mahler would have for Praimfaya, but she couldn’t imagine it being anything but welcoming. She obviously hadn’t left of her own will. If anything, she had lured the cat away from the children, something Seq was very thankful for.

it was not mahler that greets her but seqouia, who seems relieved to see her alive. praimfaya's recollection of that day and fateful choice and day is hazy from the pain and blood loss. that's good, it takes praimfaya a while to respond, but when she does her throat is thick with mixed emotions. she is happy, in a way, to know her children are alive and as well as they could be expected to be; but feels a creeping feeling of claustrophobia at the thought of being forced to be their mother again. she loved them, in her strange way ...but it is better she remain detached. for her sake. for theirs.

it did, praimfaya replies twisting her body partially so she could turn her head to study the new scars she's collected. she does not mind them. they are her war marks and she adores them in a way she feels might be strange to anyone else but her. and it paid for it. that much, she remembered; and she remembered the sole motivation that drove her away from her children and rivenwood: to be commander is to be alone.

it repeats now, like a mantra of the past commanders in her head and she falls quiet to it; eager to listen to whatever the commanders of the past have to tell her.

the howl that rose over the sprawling forests of rivenwood was not one that mahler had expected. 
smothering a cough, the gargoyle approached with heavy, resolute steps. sequoia was there now, and he was thankful for the woman. 
not having heard their words, mahler drew closer, all his attention laid upon praimfaya — at her scarring and reduced nature, eyes flickering between relief and worry.
"have you returned to us, commander?"

Sequoia winced at the scars on Praimfaya's body. They did not look pretty, even now that they were beginning to heal. They made her think of Laurel. It was not the same beast that had done damage to both of them, but that did not make one less bad than the other. At least both of them had gotten away from their attackers alive.

She had expected Praimfaya to immediately ask to see the kids, to ask how they were doing, to want for information... but there was nothing of the sort. It confused Sequoia, and she even found herself a little bit angry on their behalf. Did their mother not care about how they were doing?

Before any of that could bubble up, Mahler was there, and Sequoia stepped back.

I'll leave you two to it. Mahler, you know where I'll be. With the kids. Keeping them safe. Raising them as she raised her own.