Huckleberry shivered as he carefully stepped through the loose rocks of Polaris. It wasn't the colder air that was causing the trembling, it was the memories. The last time he'd been here...it hadn't gone very well. The Olympics had shaken him to his core all those cycles ago. He'd been piecing himself together since joining the Kingdom. The kindness that had been shown to him had been strange but most welcome. The gentle therapy, courtesy of Mercurius, the trust that Rift put in him, it was changing him. Finally, he was opening up. He was getting better. And that all had come crashing down.

"Apparently, she lost her fucking mind enough that she made you. It's a shame she spawned an actual offspring who looks like some pathetic monstrosity." Kera's words kept ringing in his ears as he passed the place where it had all taken place. Shiny was resting on his back, softly purring, and he anchored to that. Kept himself thinking about that and only that. He was stronger now. He could do this.

Huckleberry pushed himself onwards, trying not to think about what he was doing. Why he was here with the tiger that he'd never really talked to before. He just couldn't go alone. He didn't talk as they walked. He didn't even try to search. Maybe he didn't even want to find Blackberry. No. I'll find her. I have to.

Huckleberry flinched when the sudden voice broke through his thoughts. He stepped away instinctively and turned, the feathers on his neck bristling but they flattened quickly. It was just the tiger. A testament to how freaked out he was, then, that someone he knew was there had scared him so much.

He glanced around a little nervously. "Uh, well, our old home was in a cave by Polaris. She's not there anymore but...maybe she's around here. Or in another tunnel nearby. I don't know, Polaris is a big cave." He lifted his muzzle and sniffed at the air. Polaris was big, sure, but Huckleberry had always had a good nose and something, ever so faintly, touched his senses. Something familiar. Like blood and decay and distinctly like home.

He froze and turned his head in the direction the scent was coming from. "I-it's...she's somewhere nearby. I think. Th-this way." He took off, but his legs felt like lead. He'd been avoiding this forever and now that he was going out to find her, to face her again...he didn't want to. He really didn't.

Shiny purred harder against his back, but it didn't help. Nothing would, really.

Huckleberry glanced sideways at Orlaith, pausing for a second. She was weird. Most of the Kingdom regarded him with a mixture of fear and pity and usually avoided talking to him. Or, at least, he avoided them. Or maybe both. But Orlaith was talking to him directly, offering her air, letting him take the lead. He wasn't used to this kind of power and he internally shrunk back from it. He was never ever the one in control because how could someone that could barely control themselves hope to have a hold on others or be anything like a good leader?

Trust her? They'd barely even met. And after everything that'd happened, how could Huckleberry trust anyone? At all? But her forwardness and gentle voice at least let him believe that he could maybe come to kind of trust her in the future. "Th-thanks. Yeah, I guess. Um, sorry, I'm no good, no good at talking. I'm just a little scared." And it was quite obvious too, from the way his ears were pressed flat against his head, the slight tremble through his whole body, the way his wings were poised to flight...he was ready to bolt at any second.

After a moment, he set off again, forcing his legs to move forward. After a little while, he stopped again, unsure if he was even following the same path. He could smell her, but he couldn't be sure if they were even going in the right direction. Perhaps it had drifted. Perhaps it wasn't even hers. It'd been so long since he'd seen her and many of the family had taken up a similar scent. He looked down at the pebbles by his feet and reached out a talon, gently touching the stones at his feet. A sharp snap of magic jumped between them and Huckleberry felt movement in his head. Not long, barely an hour ago, someone had moved it. Someone with sharp claws.

His ears perked, forgetting his fear for a moment. "Oh, she passed by not long ago! I think! Hopefully its her and not Jayberry. Or someone else." It only lasted for a second - his expression immediately dropped as he looked over at the tiger. "You don't want to meet Jayberry."

Huckleberry shook his head. "She's the worst. Maybe worse then Mama. She killed a lot of people for no reason and tortured Lessers for fun. She attacked Yew a couple of cycles ago. I hope she's not with Mama but...they were always close." He didn't even realize that he'd said it, caught up in fear again as they got closer and closer. Huckleberry had been strong at the meeting, announcing that he'd stand and testify but he was faltering now. He needed to be strong. Stay strong. Shiny licked the fur on his shoulders.

And then they rounded and bend and there she was. Dragging her feet, bent over, barely moving, but it was her. And Huckleberry completely froze. His heart began racing at the sight of her. He hadn't seen her...not in a long time. Not since the battle that terrible battle. He'd seen her as he lunged forward, raising a claw to push her out of the way. He'd missed and a moment later, he was on fire, blazing bright white, screaming so terribly. He couldn't see, he couldn't see anything. Nothing but blue as it engulfed his world and everything went dark...

Huckle-friend. Calm down. Focus. Breath. Slow your heart. Shiny's voice cut through the haze and immediately his magic flared into action, almost unconsciously. His heartbeat, which had been raging out of control, began to slow and steady itself. Once he was back in control of himself, it was like a deadly, icy calm had fallen over him. Mercurius's teachings were loud in his ears, the words of Pride were booming in his head. He was breathing steady. He was calm. He was ready.

He turned to Orlaith, eyeing the rocky outcrops surrounding them. "Sneak around her," he whispered. "Stay behind the rocks. Get on the other side of her in case she tries to escape." He pulled back and then proceeded to march forward. He paused, giving Orlaith a bit of time to follow his command before, at last, he stepped out, whether she did or not.

He slowly, quietly, crept up behind and paused a short distance away, taking a deep breath. "Mama."