Around two hours ago, the Voidmother had escaped her prison. Now, she was returning to Cetus -- her entry was quiet at first, but then the blooru was braying excitedly to announce their presence. "KOO-ROOO!" she cried, and to those who were perceptive, the Voidmother's voice followed as she drew closer to their home.

"Family? My Children? Are you still here! Your Mother has finally returned!" It had been too long -- but being in Canis, it was borderline upsetting. She remembered being kidnapped here, hurting that poor spider here, making herself horrifically nauseous in the process. She was sure that, in some ways, she'd nearly died. In others, she had.

It had been cycles. She'd been gone longer than she'd been with them, and it made her feel like crawling back into that hole in shame. She was so helpless without them, and then they'd been unable to find her. She was unsure how they must have felt -- unsure of what had happened in her absence. Voidstrider had tried to fill her in in fleeting images and memories, spikes of fear and confusion here and there, but she'd been half-feral in the Voidmother's absence and wasn't the most reliable or understandable source for all things history.

Now, she was arriving. If all was well, they'd be moving -- the Blooru had shown her a memory of a bright green cave full of trees that did not look like Eridanus. The Voidmother did not know if she could handle staying in Cetus any longer -- just being here made her nervous, and highly aware of her own weaknesses. Instead, she needed a change of pace, and a place to feel safe. Her family, therefore, would be coming with her.

"Voidcrawlers! Are you here?"

Carja had been here less and less frequently as the days passed, reluctant to leave her growing children for long. Today she had a deer in her claws, wanting to still provide at least a little bit for who was left of the Voidcrawlers.

She really hadn't expected to see Sunny, her hopes dwindling as the weeks had turned to cycles.

”SUNNY!!!”, she roared, swooping down and landing hard, tripping over her own legs and tumbling in front of the snail, her eyes wet with tears, ”You're home!! Oh I'm so glad you're home!”

She was crying, emotional at the fact that her long lost friend was alive.

@Sunny

"Sssssunny?"

The cobra slithered forth from where he was sulking in the swamp, all three eyes wide in surprise. It was Sunny. Binh couldn't believe. Binh can't believe it. Sunny was dead! The Voidmother, She who Spoke to the Monster... those wretched souls in Canis snatched her away! When the Kooru started braying again, he thought it was an enemy attack and hid. But this was an attack on his heart, not his form.

"Sssssunny," he breathed, voice not strong enough to exclaim like Carja. The little snail who saved his life. The little snail who brought them together. The seer took a spot next to Carja, looking down at the mollusc in awe. Snake faces aren't the best for displaying emotion, but hopefully the Voidmother could tell how relieved he was regardless. "Whaaatt... whaat haaapenned to yooou?"

It was... too good to be true. (Or maybe just too unbelievable.) The Voidmother had been gone forever -- they were barely a real group anymore, just a haphazard collection of family members who were too shy to speak up and appoint a new leader. But Kitty, despite her best efforts from where she was curled in her nest (restocked with goodies, thank you very much)... she couldn't deny that her ears strained for that tiny voice when she heard the kooru braying, and she started to leap down the trees when, for a brief moment, she heard it.

"Mother?" she rasped, eyes wide as she scrambled to the ground. "Is that-- is it really you?"