Quiet came the thoughts of perseverance within her head, dragging of pad against soil, ears drooping. Foolish did she feel, pain still worming it's way through her body, as she knew it would remain for ages to come. Around her felt the presence of guards, ensuring a safe trip home, back to where she knew she belonged. Back to Atbash, one of her few friends, truly the one she could call the closest she'd grown to in her time within the group's boundaries. She knew that those who knew her, they would be happy to see her back home. That little bit of I belong here, sat a heavy stone in her chest, giving her the ability to return with a sense of happiness. Head lifting up high as she inhaled the scents of the swamp brought to them by a strong gale, her eyes closing as she took in the different medley of scents. The mire she called home was a place she could feel a sense of peace, where she would return to for the rest of her days.

Grievous the wounds she had suffered, the loss of such beautiful wings once held upon her back, a symbol of her deal with the bastard that had granted her a sick form of immortality. Alone was his control of her life, he alone chose when her life would be forfeit. She was sworn not to harm him or any of his bloodline, a bloody guardian made for bastard gray lord of the fae. New still was she, a child among the eyes of the elder fae, their ways of strange creation a sore thing to think of. Remembering the sworn deal, she could only see the twisted truth in his words. He had promised her lie with her family, and though her biological family laid six feet under across the land, there began new sprigs of a family within the fen she lived.

Pace struggling between her companions, the dull spirit within her eyes returning with a flare, jaws open to drink in the scents of the swamp, stomach growling for foods she knew. How she couldn't wait for a proper bowl of stew, nothing wrong with the food supplied by the Coalition, though she ached for certain comforts. One such missing comfort was a savannah by the name of Atbash, her nose twitching as she strained to push herself faster.

The scene left behind when Jormungand had captured her had been a mess, their fight had been a struggle, but she hadn't given in. She hadn't been able to protect herself, but she hoped that she had been able to in a way protect her groupmates from the menace that had taken her - she had served a suitable distraction for the brute. Towering had he been, met by the fury of a drunken Celt. She could only hope he'd learned his lesson in picking on the small ones. If not, her own claws had bore him reminders for time to come. His own marks upon her served no deterrent - she would gladly take him on again or any other enemy that threatened the peace of her home.

Head lifting as she was escorted to the border, her ears twitching. Home. Hone, she was home. Shaken her inhale, neck stretching as she stumbled forward, her voice breaking as she called out, "I'm home!", as her tail flicked behind her. She could move fairly freely though the weight of her missing wings often haunting her rest. She glanced back at the bodies that had guided her, looking for the few faces that she had recognized from her time there. Romulus himself was one of the few people she'd interacted with, and if she remembered from the haze, he'd been there to help guide her home.

Retro to typhoon raid on cotc//

Atbash had been distraught after Merlin's capture, but the fact that the Coalition had captured her kept the savannah from trying to rescue the other she-cat. It was really pathetic, wasn't it? Considering the feelings Atbash had for Merlin, she felt like she should have pushed her fears aside but the mere thought of Caesar still being apart of the group (or stars, forbid, leading the group) had her terrified. Eventually Elsweyr went and confronted the Coalition and revealed that Sojourn was leading, though that didn't ease Atbash's worries of Caesar being there. Elsweyr revealed who had captured Merlin, someone by the name of Jormungand, and that he was being punished for it - but Merlin was staying in the Coalition until her wounds healed.

Atbash waited anxiously for the she-cat to return, growing worried by the day and considering multiple times to go to the Coalition herself, but could never quite bring up the courage to do so. That being said, the sound of Merlin's faint but familiar voice fueled her and she came running to where Merlin was, ignoring the Coalition Wanderers behind her. "Oh Mer!" The savannah cried as she tried to embrace MERLIN in a hug, tears coming from her eye as she tried to hug the Celtic. "Oh stars, what did they do to you.." Her voice was quiet, realizing that Merlin's wings were gone. Completely gone and leaving a scar where they once were. It was... awful. Merlin was still beautiful in Atbash's eye regardless of course, but it pained her to see the other feline's wings gone. She knew firsthand what it was like to lose something important to your body, she knew the pain.

a throbbing purr escaped her as a scent slammed into her like a wall, blur of black and yellow announcing the cipher to her, a half choked sob of pleasure ripping out of her body. she was sore and unsteady, but she wasn't frail. bouncing forward into atbash's embrace, the other's scent washing over her and drowning out the coalition's scent, trying to bury her face into her fur and embrace her back tightly. oh thank her lucky leaves that she'd been first to welcome her back!

fighting back sobs of her own, so relieved to be home, to be with the one woman who had kept her going in that frozen wasteland. hiccuping as she tried to stick close to atbash, not wanting to pull away, afraid this was some cruel dream, purrs leaving her helpless as she raised her paws to wipe at her own tears, barely holding back from trying to wipe atbash's away as well. so wrapped up in their reunion, that she barely noticed any other bodies around them, her nose filled by the familiar scent of peat and water. thanking every entity for her safe return home, merlin smiled softly, grief in her eyes, "they did all that they could for us. our wings ... were the price to pay for a fight we could have won if we weren't inebriated.", maybe she was bragging a little, but she had made sure that jormungand hadn't escaped unscathed.

she still felt tiny, though she was big for a domestic feline without any wild blood. not that small was bad, she was the same size as atbash, but she hated the way that the larger animals tended to look down on the smaller cats and beings. her fur bushed out an unfamiliar voice and scent, head swiveling as she caught sight of vignere, quickly making the connection between atbash and vignere. she'd remembered atbash had mentioned that her brother had once led here, and that he had kept caesar under some form of control. she didn't know his name, but the fact that she didn't sense any negative or unsure feelings from atbash, she held herself back from going on the offensive against him. he must be the one she had mentioned over their cocoa months ago, but it didn't stop her coat from ruffling as she stared at him with wary interest.

he knew her name, atbash must have told him about her, or one of the others. turning her head faintly to catch atbash's scent, subconsciously leaning towards her, she spread her jaws to take in vignere's scent, tipping her head to the side, "forgive our rudeness on our return, but you are a cipher, yes? you aren't going to make trouble for atbash right?", she had been gone when the former luminary had returned from the grips of the dead, fighting for her own life against the infection of her now removed wings. she knew she shouldn't be ruffling coats, but she couldn't help the pricking in her paws that reminded her of how kindly atbash had alway treated her. she was her first friend here, and she'd be damned in she let anyone rile things up or pick on her.

gaze turning, she found kiara, tipping her head in the other direction. another body she didn't recognize. "yes, we're merlin. we got into a fight a few months ago with an intruder who bore scents of the coalition and the pitt. we admit we were drunk when the intruder came across us. we fought with that ugly brute, and he stole our wings, though what was left nearly killed us.", a grateful glance back to the coalition wanderers behind her. they'd been able to save her from death, something she'd be forever grateful for. the fae turned her head back to atbash with an affectionate smile, "but we are home now, better than we were before. who are you, dear?", she couldn't help but be curious of the faces around her. attempting to nuzzle into atbash's fur, closing her eyes with a relieved breath, "we've been gone so very long. what all has happened in our absence?"

//aforementioned speech change to fit with current irish/scottish ways of talking//

"I'm so sorry..." Atbash whispered in response to Merlin's explanation on what happened, allowing the she-cat to hug her tightly. Hell, 'allow' might even be an understatement; Atbash had been hoping Merlin would hug her back. "I should have been there with you..." Though Merlin didn't know that she didn't technically need sleep, did she? Atbash quickly went quiet after though, letting the introductions and welcome backs go through to Merlin. It was rude to interrupt, after all.