( like constellations a million years away )

[halforc]

who: fjord, mollymauk, jester
what: returning home from the nameless isle

>>MOLLY.

[ Birdsong drifts along a cool breeze, the warmth of sunny rays bathing his cheeks to stir him to consciousness. The scent of flowers hits him immediately before he even opens his eyes, groggily blinking up at a fluttering green canopy overhead and a sky as blue as the seas of the Menagerie Coast. He startles into a sitting position and looks around, alarmed as he gasps to full wakefulness with a deep-set panic in his chest spurring him into action, and with a stumble Fjord gets to his feet to spin around on the spot where he takes in the sight around him with widening eyes.

The graves of the Blooming Grove surround him, peaceful as various flowers gently sway in the summer breeze. He spots the Bag of Holding nearby and snatches it up, briefly summoning the Star Razor to check he can, and then he hears her and his knees hit the grass as they buckle, a flood of affection and relief that is not his own pouring down his spine as the Wildmother welcomes him home with what feels like a mother's embrace; ferns grow with rapid speed, grasses lurch up, and the flowers nearby riotously bloom in new vines to encircle him, swirling up his bent legs so that petals and leaves brush his face, damp with happy tears.

Welcome home.

He spends a moment crying into a hand, laughing out the agony and fear of having spent over a year being held prisoner. Flowers wind through his armour, joyously greeting Melora's Paladin. It takes a few minutes to regain his bearings but when he does the minor meditative state of her reassurance melts away and he can breathe again, picking a handful of purple and red flowers with the absent-minded idea that he doesn't want to leave part of Melora behind. As he walks away from the bed of flowers and heads further into the grove, he raises his raw voice to call for his friends, swallowing down apprehension as memories mingle of battling Lucien and the other fight on the Isle, both timelines somehow existing inside his aching head. ]

Mighty Nein? Hello? Vox Machina? Aphrodite? Is anyone ... Is anyone home too?

>>JESTER.

[ The morning after he finds Molly, Fjord heads outside with a cup of someone-tea (not thinking about who he might be drinking) to take a stroll in the golden expanse of the beautiful grove. In a simple shirt and pants after discarding his armour, desperate to soak up the comfort of the Clays like a dried-out sponge tossed into the ocean at last, he wanders at his leisure and is mid-sip when he notices a slice of blue low down in the tree-line, doing a double-take. Stepping around the trees to get closer, he drops his cup with a shout and darts through the tussocks toward Jester, scooping her up into his arms (partially, she's in a willow's branches, shit) to prop her close as he checks out whether she's injured.

She's home, though. He's so relieved that he can barely keep from shaking her awake. ]

Jester! Jester, open your eyes!

Comments

[devilstongue]

[ That sets Molly off as well, and he giggles against warm green skin. ]

We'll suggest it too him when we see him next.

[ He's sure Caleb will show up, no matter if it takes time. Everyone had followed them to the island, they would follow them home.

All but one. ]

I need to see if I can find Yasha.

[ Molly says, voice soft and fond but pained at the same time. He's missed her so much and she has to be here. A year without her and it's like an open wound that will not close until he sees her again. ]

[halforc]

[ He pulls Molly a little closer, tugging the blankets down to cut off any chills from the back of a lavender neck. ]

We'll find her, don't worry. It's infinitely more likely we'll manage to grab ahold of her here than there, remember.

[devilstongue]

True. She always finds me, she might just be waiting in the kitchen tomorrow.

[ Just appearing out of nowhere, just like she usually did. ]

I'm happy. Even after all of this... I'm happy.

[ He closes his eyes with a soft sigh. There's still far too many memories and pain in his head to sort through, but at least they're home and together. ]

[halforc]

Me too. It's going to be difficult, but we're home and we're together, which is all that really matters.

[ Yawning, Fjord pets the base of Molly's tail, a fond buttpat. ]

Goodnight, Molly. Try to rest up.

[devilstongue]

[ Molly smiles at the little pat and then lets himself drift off, safe in Fjord's arms and in this blessed temple, wrapped in a lovingly-made blanket.

A new adventure could start tomorrow. ]