They'd been staying in Eridanus for a couple of cycles now under the careful watch and protection of Mercurius. Huckleberry had requested that he could stay with the Kingdom, sure, but he had been apprehensive about it. He knew he was dangerous. He knew that he was weak-minded, that he could just as easily switch back over if Mama came back, despite everything that happened. But he liked to believe, wanted to believe, that he was getting better. Mercurius was kind and gentle. And Huckleberry was finally healing.

He had had a brief stint where everything had seemed dark and hopeless. After his fight with Kera in Polaris it was like the whole world had drained away. That he was horrible, terrible, that the world would be better off without him in it. He'd almost done it, too, almost dived into the river and let loose a burst of magic. But now that moment was behind him. He didn't want to die. He wasn't going to die.

And he knew what Mama was. How horrible she had been. And how horrible he had been to stay with her. Shiny had helped him, talked to him and convinced him that he was better off away from her. That her love, although real, wasn't right and wasn't good. Just because she was his mother, and just because she had done a few kindnesses for him didn't mean he owed her his undying allegiance. He needed to do what his heart thought now.

But that was before Rift had returned from Orion, bearing the news that Blackberry was dead. That Pride and Envy had hunted her down and killed her. Huckleberry thought that the news would bring him relief, but all it brought him was depression and loss. He was confused again, begging for it not to be true, but also knowing that everyone was that much safer now that it was true. He had curled himself up in the corner of Mercurius's garden and mourned. He didn't eat or drink or talk to anyone all day.

But finally, he felt himself stirring. All of his tears were spent. There was someone else here that might understand his plight. Yew was still around. Huckleberry had never been close to her but perhaps now, after everything that had happened, they could finally talk as brother and sister.

"Yew?" he called hoarsely out from under the bush he was under. He called a couple more times to strengthen his voice, in case she didn't hear, but stayed curled under the foliage.

@Yew

[accidentally deleted this, had to recreate from what I remembered this is so awful]

Yew couldn't get used to life in Eridanus.

It was quiet, and peaceful, and not at all what she was useful. They were kind to her, although they had little reason to be. No one had a cruel word for her, or a harsh touch. They treated her and Uncle Huckleberry like their own.

She desperately wanted to curl up in Mercurius' garden, having grown fairly close to the white lion in their time there. But she wouldn't dare, didn't feel comfortable doing so, and instead approached the area, seeking him out. Usually, if she needed him, that was the surest place to find him. But at first glance, he wasn't there, so she paced, hoping to either see him or, that, he would enter while she was pacing.

But, instead, a familiar voice called out her name. She tilted her head, spotting Uncle Huckleberry calling out her new name from the bushes. The hybrid asked, "Un-n-ncle Huck-uck-uckleberrry? Ar-rr-re you ok-ok-okay?"

Huckleberry's eyes followed Yew as she paced around, making a bit of a face. Huckleberry had never liked her - she was annoying and a brat and she didn't listen to her mother or to Mama. After the fight, though, she was a lot different and Huckleberry was really trying to rethink how he thought about his neice.

As she got closer to the bush he was hiding under, Huckleberry pushed his head out a little more so he could actually look at her properly. "I'm fine. What about you? How are you holding up?" He forced himself to say these things and not launch immediately into a meltdown. He was the elder here and Mercy had always talked about controlling his emotions. Well, this was Huckleberry doing all in his power to control his emotions.

@Yew

Yew blinked down at Uncle Huckleberry as he peeked out from the bush--she had to admit, it was a rather comical sight. Her ears twitched, and she flicked her wings, before slowly laying down. Much like her speech, her movements had become more clumsy, almost stuttered, so it took an uncomfortable amount of effort to lay down on her stomach, to curl her legs under her and rest her head on her paws.

"Arr-re you sure?" she frowned, tilting her head. While she didn't know Huckleberry the best, she knew that he was incredibly close to Grandmother, and so she worried for him. "I-I'm okay-ay. Merc-erc-ercur-ur-uris," she hated his name, it was a nearly impossible mouthful for her, but didn't feel comfortable saying his nickname--she was still the Grandchild, and child, of his enemies, after all. What right did she have to act so familiar? "ha-s been treat-ting me well and tea-eaching me."

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry's head quivered - the best he could do at a nod in this position. "Mercurius is very nice," he said a bit lamely, but how to really talk about that when there was so much more on his mind? It was like a bug crawling on his body - he couldn't ignore it and every second that it stayed there he became more fidgety and more impatient to let it out. A moment later he decided to just say it.

"Blackberry is dead," he blurted out, tears unintentionally leaping to his eyes. "The Seven killed her. The family is gone now. How...how do you feel about that? Really?" It was all he could do to start with asking someone else their own feelings on the matter. Heavens knew he had enough to say on the subject, but he didn't want to say anything until Yew had let her own opinion known.

@Yew

Yew ruffled her wings, twitching her ears. "H-he iss," she agreed, bobbing her head. He was one of the nicest Gembound she had never met, had treated her with a kindness she didn't feel she deserved, had never known from anyone else. She wanted to ask him, but feared that he would change his attitude towards her, would realize that she didn't deserve it.

And... yes, she knew. "Yeah-ah, I kn-know." her ears flattened back. "I... I kn-know you... all-all of you did-idn't li-ike me much. Gran-andmother esp-pecially. But... I-I mi-iss them." she hated lying, and she wasn't, really. It had been her life for cycles, and there was definitely some longing for that familiarity. "I... I miss Mo-other. An-and Gran-andmother an-and I'll mi-iss them for-ever."

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry's ears pulled back as he tried not to start crying. He couldn't just cry whenever he got a little bit upset about something. "I miss them too..." he mumbled as clear as he could, but he was already getting choked up. No, no no no, I'll be okay. Just breath, like Mercurius said. And so he breathed, deeply, in and out, until his heart was back to its normal base and there were no more threat of tears.

His red eyes looked around the garden, as if someone nearby would hear what he was about to say, but it was something he had to say, what he needed to ask. "Do you ever...consider going back? Finding them? Finding your mother? Or is this....this the place you want to be? In Eridanus?"

@Yew

Yew frowned, flattening her ears back as she watched Huckleberry. She folded her legs under her, stretching out on her stomach to get more comfortable as she spoke to Huckleberry, movements stiff.

"I-Iii can't im-imag-imagine. Youuu were mu-uch closser to them than-than I was." She and Uncle Huckleberry had never been particularly close, but she still had empathy, and could feel sorry for him.

She hesitated, trying to figure out what to say. Yew felt she knew what answer he wanted to hear, but wasn't sure if she should lie. "I... Iii have. Sssometimes. She... I fail-failed. She wouldn't wan-want me back." and then, after a moment, "I... Iii like it here. It's qui-iet. And they'ey're nice."

@huckleberry