There's a hunger gripping my bones | return

[wormwood.]

It was a painful action, to try and remember the events that had followed V's leaving all of those months ago. Aurum had felt foolish back then, stupid enough to allow himself to grow attached to yet another person after being wronged so thoroughly by those who had once claimed to be his family. Although he and Poet had eventually made up – as much as they were ever going to, that is – he had never forgiven Judith, not even after her eventual death, and his father had died before he had ever truly gained closer. For all intents and purposes, he should've learned that family could be nothing but trouble for all of those involved. Yet still, the lion found himself growing horribly, helplessly attached to others. First had been Moth, and then so many others had followed, but aside from his beloved sister, none of them could have begun to hold a candle to V. After the lion had spent most of his life deprived of a proper mother and instead been given a cruel witch who considered him nothing more than a curse, V had seemed like an angel herself, in her kind nature and warm, private smiles. She had been more a mother to him than Judith ever had, even if they had only known each other for a few months. He had been willing to turn to her for everything, especially over his conflicted feelings over Red.

Then, she had been gone. Disappeared off into the night, just as quickly as she had come. Aurum could still remembering waking up in his – at the time – rather small home, stumbling over to the door and groggily snatching up the letter that had been slipped beneath it. At first, he had no worries, figuring that it was just a notice of a game, or some event that Feza had taken it upon herself to throw. However, his blue eyes had then fallen on the simple words tearfully curled onto the page, and he had felt his heart sink downward, a pain gripping him that had made him want to go to bed and never get up again. He wasn't sure how long he had spent just staring down at that paper, but he was fairly sure he could remember Roy approaching him, and the feeling of his son pressing comfortingly into his side as he closed his eyes. He wasn't sure if he had really been able to muster up the effort to cry, too worn down and drained simply from realizing that the one true mother he had ever had was gone. He wondered if he had done something wrong; if he had pushed away yet another parent figure who had come to think of him as nothing but a curse.

He had eventually recovered, as he always did. As he always had to, for the greater good of Tanglewood. It had been hard, hiding his pain from many and trying not to dwell on what he had lost, particularly when he found himself with a head full of swirling thoughts, desperate to get the opinion of a calm, and wise voice. He had made it through, however, and after a long while, Viera had become just another name on the long list of those that he had loved, and that he had lost. He had honestly thought she would never return, what with the finality of the sparse words within her farewell letter. It seemed as though he was wrong, although he wasn't sure how happy about that he truly was – his mind screeched at him that he was, he was so truly happy, because he had missed her so, although he blocked it out, stubbornly. Although her scent had not met his nose for quite a long time, he still recognized it as soon as he approached the border, his breath shuddering and his heart roaring in his ears as he came to a stop before her. On one hand, he knew he must've looked different. Older, with more scars and more grey fur, and the absence of one of his glittering blue eyes. On the other hand, he also knew that he looked stronger. He had been through so much, and he had come out the other side, although not so unscathed. The former proxy took a long breath inward, his voice soft and slightly pained when he finally spoke, "...You. You're home. V... I missed you..." He looked down for a moment, digging his long and dangerous claws into the earth, his eyes faintly burning with tears, "...I wasn't sure that you'd ever be back. Why did you go...?" So many thoughts fought violently in his head, all trying to make their way to the tip of his tongue, but ultimately, all that forced their way out were questions.

[glow=black,2,300]— ✘ —[/glow]