re̛t̨ur͏n? [✦] w͢aiti̴ng̀ f͜o̷r̀ ̕love͘

[suvi.]

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— s͢uv̷i͡ ̷k̛iir͜a ó f͞a҉olá҉in | t̢àn̢glewo̧o̷̢d̷͢ | medic —

Family presented itself as a strange concept to the youth approaching the railroad tracks.  Familiar and foreign as conflicting memories clashed.  Suvi's mind prevailed.  Pushing.  Certainty.  Father.  Sister.  Brothers.  Uncles.  Cousins. A rather large family she possessed.  As snow white paws padded slowly across the abandoned tracks, the thought sank her heart for a reason she could not quite pinpoint.  So much time alone.  Forgotten.  I don't want to be forgotten.

Doubt danced in the mismatched hues of the petite fox.  No longer that little mute wolf pup.  No longer quite just Suvi.  For that, hesitancy pulled the vixen back.  Fear.  Enough that an ear glitched, ghosting away at the worry that her family would not recognize her or accept what she'd done.  I hadn't meant to.

Nor did she fully understand, even as her mind adjusted to the chaos of the merge.

She'd never quite be the same.  Never quite Suvi, or Kiira.  But the memories and feelings and... Lives... Of both, they were still hers, to hold and return to.  I don't want to be alone again.

Trembling paws rang the bell, albeit quietly.  Golden fur shone beneath the light of the sun, casting a dim glow in apprehension.

— T͏O̴G͠ETH͏ER̕ ÁT̴ ̸T̕H̶E ST͏ART̶ O͏F̀ ̵TI̡M͏E —

[elijah]

[div style="margin: 0 auto; border-width:0; width: 70%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 9pt;"]Funnily enough, Elijah is still looking for her. He still remembers his conversation with Raziel and how he was looking for the child. He was struck with compassion. Having no blood related family around anymore, he was willing to protect the families of others. It was the least he could do. Maybe...maybe in searching for the family members of others...he can find his own siblings and Marcellus. They might pay it forward, do him a favour in return. So when the sound of the bell rings, Elijah promptly stands up and moves towards the railroad. Sometimes, because of habit, his own wing begins to spread out and be ready for flight, only for the boy to remember that he has lost one from a hostage situation. Elijah bites his inner cheek, discomforted by the reminder but not allowing any more time to waste as he moves across the forest. He scrunches his nose at the lingering smell of ashes, frowning slightly at fallen trees and the sight of birds picking at carcasses. A crow looks at him before greedily glancing at one of the rats that were accompanying him. Defensively, the boy snarls and the bird immediately backs away. Although his affinity was with rats, Elijah was still the demidemon of infestation. Any kind of pest was wise enough to at least partially listen to him. He was their superiors.

He blinks in surprise at the glowing girl before suddenly beaming in happiness. He remembers she used to glow. He remembers that she is... Suvi! This was Suvi if he remembers right! Elijah picks up his pace, faster than he would for any stranger, faster than his thoughts could form. It was as if he has been overwhelmed by a tsunami of positive emotions. "You're Suvi, right?" Elijah asks, getting ahead of himself that he doesn't even recognise the Tanglewood sticking to her coat. "Raziel said he was looking for you and... — hey, are you okay? I should probably have asked where you've been all this time. Is-is everything alright?"

[SÉAMUS]

[div style="width: 450px; line-height: 12px; text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-size: 8pt;"]— shouldn't have done it now there's blood in the water
The faerie had not been searching for his wayward niece, although he'd quickly grown alerted to her lack of presence.  Like his own daughter, Suvi stood out a bit, as one of the youth and of adventurous tendencies.  She wandered often.  He had assumed, as he imagined his brothers did, she got lost somewhere in the jungle.  Perhaps scent trail said otherwise but... Well, she was just a pup.

Or had been.

Glowing he easily attributed to the child.  As well as golden fur, which was an unusual color for an arctic fox, which was the little creature before him, if he had good eyes.  Elijah made quick deductions as well and he found himself losing doubt.  Instead, curiosity rose to its place.  Fascinating.

For those eyes did not match hers -- or perhaps they did, just barely, as hers had once been brown, not brown and blue.  A dire wolf was a far stretch from an arctic fox.  She seemed a little older too.  Completely fascinating.  Then another matter; she carried the scent of someplace far and... Something earthy too, something herbal.

"I do believe this is my niece I'm looking at," the endfield ventured, lips curling into a faint, wry, smile.  Teasing and truly intrigued by the concept of whatever change had befallen the silent child he'd known.
[align=right]word of mouth there's a snake in the garden — SÉAMUS Ó FAOLÁIN ☠

[suvi.]

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— s͢uv̷i͡ ̷k̛iir͜a ó f͞a҉olá҉in | t̢àn̢glewo̧o̷̢d̷͢ | medic —

Happy.  He's so happy.  What had she done to make him... So happy?  Brows sharply crease, one startled paw seeming to disappear.  Corporal, non-corporal.  Hues striking as autumn and winter flicker, surprised and uncertain, but hopeful.  Raziel. Da.  The vixen found herself tongue-tied; an unfortunate matter when she remembered quite firmly she could speak.  They don't know that. They don't remember you like this.

But he's happy.  He's smiling.  Da was looking for me.  Her fur shimmered and changed, casting a shy glow.  Hope.  Recollections of the love of family, pushing past bitter and hurtful memories of loneliness that did not belong to Suvi.  The faintest trace of a smile.

Before she answers, there's more movement and she hopes, but the sea-green eyes belong to another member of her kin.  Uncle Seamus.  The tricky twin, but an uncle nonetheless and her teeth chew the inside of her cheek as he speaks, searching for some friendliness from his as well, although he seems more inclined to taunt.

"..." 'Don't you know how to speak, kid?' "..." No, I'm scared, and perhaps it showed.  I want da.

It's the flutter of wings that draw her out of the panic.  Dark feathers and the familiar deafening CAW.  Sudden as the bird's appearance was, the youth flinched, nearly jumping out of her skin.  The raven swooped down to just a few paw steps away, some small book clenched in his talons, though she did not notice.  "..." Fiachra.  "F... Fee..." You can talk. "Fee.." Why did you choose such a complicated name? "Fe-fee-akh-ra."

"Fi-Fiachra." There.  She bounced on her paws, ears flattened.  "I... I... … C-can so-someone... F-find da?"  I'm okay.  Not okay.  Okay.  I don't know.

— T͏O̴G͠ETH͏ER̕ ÁT̴ ̸T̕H̶E ST͏ART̶ O͏F̀ ̵TI̡M͏E —

[raziel]

A lost book began to matter less and less as hours turned to days and his daughter remained unseen.  The child was prone to wander, yes, but she always came back. The massive dire wolf must have scoured the island thrice over.  Maybe more. No sign; she'd just... Disappeared.  Raziel did not believe she'd been taken... Signs of a struggle somewhere within the borders would have surfaced by now... Surely.

So at the sound of voices on the border, the faerie reluctantly began padding forward, sea-green eyes clouded with worry and anxiety.  He did not quite register the words spoken, only that a little fox stood, glowing, with strange eyes and the desire for her 'da'.  That's what Keo calls the twins... Da.

But Suvi doesn't talk. Or she never had before.  A matter he left unspoken; Raziel never pushed the child on it, for he did not know if it was an inability or a simple desire not to.  Suvi. He caught the smell of herbs and... Someplace else.  A group he did not know perhaps.  But he was sure he knew the eyes, differently colored as they were. And the way she glowed... Elijah and Séamus had the right of it.

She looks older... A few moons... Scared too. Why so scared?  "Suvi? A stóirín? Cén fáth a bhfuil eagla ort? Tá sé ceart go leor."

"Tá sé ceart go leor.  Tá mé anseo." He murmured, reaching out to nuzzle her, pulling her close. "What happened?"

— ✦ —

[suvi.]

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— s͢uv̷i͡ ̷k̛iir͜a ó f͞a҉olá҉in | t̢àn̢glewo̧o̷̢d̷͢ | sawbone —

Watching her step out of the jungle was like stepping out of a confused dream.  The cloudy haze of her mind began to clear away, slowly, giving way to a trickle of hope and relief.  Until she caught the confusion in his own eyes.  He doesn't recognize me. Of course, last he saw her, she'd been a little dire wolf pup.  Now, barely any larger, a fluffy vixen stood in her place.

Her fur shone gold and white, not quite the same shades as before, but a vague reminder of what was.  Eyes of different seasons, one just as brown as hers had been before.  Her small form begged the question; whom did she resemble more? Suvi or Kiira?  Regarding her reflection the first days, she had not been sure.

Now her lips quivered, ears flicking back nervously that perhaps her own father did not - glistening rain fluttered down her eyes as she was held.  Surprised, but more relieved than anything, shaking within her father's embrace.  Like she'd never been held before.  Like that concept was a foreign thing left only for dreams of happiness and family.

"D-da... I-I don't... I dun-dunno, I-I'm sorry.  I di-didn't mean to..." Her words sputtered like a the crackling embers on a dying fire.  "I..." Tears obscured her vision, but she spotted fluttering black feathers nonetheless.  She blinked, breathing in ruggedly. "Fiachra... W-why... Does F-Fiachra have y-your book?"

— T͏O̴G͠ETH͏ER̕ ÁT̴ ̸T̕H̶E ST͏ART̶ O͏F̀ ̵TI̡M͏E —