Nayru's extended absence had no real excuse. She shouldn't have left in pursuit of rare herbs nor had she done so discretely. Even Chad had been confused as to why she was suddenly packing a small satchel with necessities and then nosing him upon her head, a hushed franticness to her that struck the young gator as peculiar. She had brought that book with her too- more attached to the promise of magic than ever. A young witch she was and the more time she dedicated to the art, the less she fumbled and the more powerful she grew. She could feel her connection with the ancestors so clearly now, their whispers tugging on her incessantly day in and day out.

She loved it.

But still, she had no real excuse, and as she stumbled back onto the territory, bandages wrapped tightly around most of her torso and legs, she remembered that she hadn't even retrieved the herbs she had set out to get. [b][color=#6b7e99]"Damn," She whispered to herself, not even perturbed by her almost uncharacteristic word usage. There certainly was something off about the young Sawbone, her more confident disposition and strange appearance saying that much clearly. It was the ghostly apparition that trailed behind her that perhaps put the icing on the cake, form half visible as it grumbled and cursed wildly.

Apparently, her name was Jude. Nayru really didn't know much about the deceased wolf, just that she had been poached at a young age and turned malicious as a result result. Now, she was the cream tabby's problem after a bit of a magical complication. Luckily, nothing had gone exactly awry yet. She simply had to figure out how to unlink her, which was most likely easier said than done.

But at least she was home now... She had missed Malphas and Iota and Becky and really everyone. She had let them all down, left them without anyone who possessed any healing experience and hoped for the best. That facade of hers crumbled a bit at that thought, tears more indicative of her true nature now threatening to spill over pale cheeks. [color=#6b7e99]"I'm sorry!" She cried out, partially collapsing in the center of town, [color=#6b7e99]"I didn't mean to leave for so long!"

Jude scoffed behind her and Chad - who was bigger and incapable of riding upon Nayru's head - merely nudged at his companion with a hiss.

Did they hate her?

Were they mad?

She had so many questions and so few answer.

malphas had missed nayru, but he hadn't had a lot of time to think about her. between his near suicide attempt at the junkyard and him coming out of shell recently, he had a lot on his mind. on top of that... constant nightmares plagued him every night. it was always the same thing. he was glued to the ground as he watched hati get murdered by hyenas. sure, he knew that hati was alright, and not dead, but... his initial uselessness chilled him to the core and he couldn't stop thinking about it. and at the junkyard he nearly cut his own throat open if it wasn't for morgan.

nayru was probably going to have a field day with malphas' mental health.

he smelled nayru before he saw her, and his walking pace turned into a run. was she around? where had she been? the chaser slid over to her to watch her cry and then he felt a pain in his chest, similar to the one he had when he was having a panic attack. oh fuck, he thought. "nayru," he said, his voice shaking. "i... don't fuckin' cry, you're gonna make me cry too,"

then he was crying too. "i missed you. i mean, no i didn't. i'm lying." he realized he was attached to her and that wasn't good, but it was easy to call his bluff- he really did miss her. "fuck, just... i'm ok. i'm ok," he talked to himself. "nayru, it's ok. i missed you but i'm.. glad you're back." oh god. he was nice. that felt... weird. "will you at least tell me before you go running off again? without you i've got nobody to stop me from-" oops, he was about to let his whole suicide thing slide. "nobody to stop me from being stupid." there. now nayru wouldn't feel bad for him.