[open] shattered into ash [ANY]

[Cress]

all that we have amassed sits before us, shattered into ash

Occasionally, she wonders what happened to the other former members of the Valley. Perhaps they had wandered and gathered until they found a new home of their own, or perhaps they dispersed to separate corners of the strange, new Beqanna. She had agreed to join Eight out of necessity and hope that their new home would be something like the old, but it was never anywhere close. There was no mountainous terrain to traverse, no hint of the wolves that had once lulled her to sleep. More than anything else she misses losing herself in the pine forest, the crunch of fallen needles under her hooves and the smell of sap and pollen all around.

Tephra had been different, built around an active volcano. The steam and lava keeps the land humid and hot, even for the dragon-girl. There were no endless pines or, for that matter, many trees at all. It was a dangerous place to live and perhaps she should return there, but she can't bring herself to go back. Not without her own source of heat by her side. Without Flamevein, what's the point? His body of fire can keep her warm through even the coldest of nights, but he has not been by her side for many years.

She simply cannot go back.

"There is nothing to apologize for, Jinju," she assures the younger mare. "I have been without my ears for so long now, I have almost forgotten I am scarred at all." But she hasn't, really. The scars never fade, especially from one's mind. A peek under her forelock would show the bits of meat and skull where she was never able to heal herself fully, and her ears tell the rest of the story. The dragon upon her chest, too, is a scar in it's own right, but Cress does not burden them with her baggage. It is for her to carry, and her alone.

Jinju describes their home as a pine forest, and Cress perks back up instantly, her smile growing broad. "A pine forest? I grew up in a pine forest, before all of... this happened," she adds with a glance around. Before the Reckoning, she means; before they stripped everyone's abilities away and destroyed their homes, forcing everyone to band together to create new lands, new homes, new alliances. It makes her feel old just thinking about it, though the Reckoning wasn't too many years ago. She has to remind herself that the Valley will never return, and she must move on from her painful past.

Looking to Ruan, she hopes she can mask the pain in her eyes. "I never knew Magnus, only Eight and, briefly, Offspring," she tells the icy stallion. "I'm sure they would welcome me back, but Tephra was never truly home. I yearn for pine wood and mountains, the kingdom of my childhood, even though I know it is destroyed. The Taiga sounds like a wonderful place, though. I would be honored if you will have me."

cress

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